


Fading Star

by WhereDragonsSleep



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route Spoilers, Male My Unit | Byleth, Mutual Pining, My Unit | Byleth Is Doing Their Best, Not literal but one is incorporeal, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Post-Golden Deer Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Seriously he's a mercenary how is he qualified for this, Seteth Is Also Doing His Best, Sothis S-Support, Tried to be epilogue compliant but failed, medieval politics, verdant wind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhereDragonsSleep/pseuds/WhereDragonsSleep
Summary: Nemesis has been defeated and the war in Fodlan is finally over. With Claude departed for Almyra and the crown left to Byleth, the former mercenary must continue the work of the Almyran heir. Such a responsibility bears a heavy weight, yet maybe it won't be so bad, for an old companion has returned to lend her caring presence.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Sothis, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 17
Kudos: 60





	1. Crown

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter of a longfic I've been planning for the past few months since I finished Verdant Wind. It initially just started with Byleth helping Petra and Brigid but evolved into something much more, after I realised there was shockingly little content for Sothis/Byleth, let alone long works. As this is the first major project I've undertaken in a few years that even got past the planning phase, I hope you understand if I'm rusty. Thank you for reading this note, and I hope you enjoy the fic itself.

31st, Wyvern Moon, Imperial Year 1186.

It was his birthday today.

 _"Our birthday."_ A small voice cut in to correct him.

Their birthday.

It certainly didn't feel like it. His father was not here to pat him on the shoulder and wish him well for the next year, or gift him with some practical item that he would cherish in days to come.

His former students hadn't gifted him anything either, not even some birthday flowers. He couldn't blame them, though, with all of the preparations that were being undergone.

He was but a mercenary with a peculiar crest situation, no royal lineage to speak of, no previous training or fluency in noble etiquette. And yet, here he was, awaiting the coming of his attendants to accompany him to his coronation as the new ruler of Fódlan.

How had it come to this?

 _"If you had such reservations about taking this title, why did you accept it?"_ In his moping, the voice piped up again, inquisitive.

A feeling of irritation rose within him, but then was quickly quashed, "Because Claude wanted me to. Nobody else would argue against it, they agreed with him."

The cold voice shot back. _"Could it be that they saw you as the solution to their problems? A goddess-sent saviour? No one wanted to take the throne of a ravaged but united continent, then they saw you standing there. The stern and quiet Byleth, their saviour, their teacher, **their leader.**_ **__**_Of course you couldn’t say no."_

"I doubt they would be that selfish, Sothis." Byleth turned his gaze from the floor to the translucent figure lounging next to him on the bed.

It was odd to have the small goddess converse with him once again. Only last night had she come back to him from the depths within his soul, comforting him in his loneliness reaffirming that the two of them would remain together until the end of eternity in their love without an end.

And today she was verbally tearing through both him and his former students.

She rolled over onto her stomach, her incorporeal body partially phasing through the sheets as she looked over at him. _"You have no experience with anything pertaining to leading a country. What of that purple haired young one who wished to rule the Leicester Alliance? What of him? Could he not take the mantle?"_

Byleth quirked an eyebrow, "Lorenz? He relinquished his claim to Claude, he saw him as a better leader than he would be."

 _"And now that Claude youngling is gone. Left for Almyra, and you have to clean up this war-torn country. Convenient, is it not?"_ Sothis affirmed, but she then frowned. Byleth knew that she had seen the growing discontent on his face from her words. They weren't wrong, but he knew that he was not a tool being used by his former student, not any longer, at least.

 _"Whatever the case may be, I'll be there to guide you."_ Her face shifted to that of a hopeful smile, and she reached out her hand to him. Such a shift in her tone from cutting to soothing was somewhat jarring, but her words did bring some semblance of calm to his expression as a knot of worry had begun to take hold within. He met her hand with his own, ignoring the fact that hers ghosted through him while her smile widened slightly. _"I do worry for you, but if you trust them, then I must do so as well."_

Floating forward, she leaned so her head appeared to be resting on his thigh and traced her finger along the hem of his regalia, her finger disappearing into the white, silken material. She looked intrigued by it, likely because she had rarely seen him in an outfit beyond his mercenary gear until this point.

 _"You… you should put the rest of this on before the others come for you. It wouldn't do well for the king to not be ready for his own coronation, would it?"_ Sothis let out a light giggle, tilting her head towards the two steel armlets scattered across the bed, as well the single bracer and elbow guard that accompanied them.

A sigh escaped his lips. "Indeed."

He plucked up one of the intricate little adornments in his hand and pushed his hand through the centre, sliding it up his arm until it fit tight against his bicep, but did not cause discomfort. He repeated this with the other armlet, the two fitting together to form a ring around his upper right arm.

He could see Sothis staring at him from the corner of his vision with a smirk playing upon her lips. Byleth ignored her, instead focusing on strapping the elbow guard and bracer to his arm. When he finished, he glanced back to where she was, only to see the goddess missing.

 _“You let your guard down. That is not good form.”_ She tutted, her voice coming from behind him. He saw her two slender hands exploring the large collar, sliding around to caress his face cheeks and hair. It was a sweet gesture despite her criticism the moment before. He brought his hand up to one of hers, the spectral hand again ghosting through his own.

As much as he wanted to be able to, he could not feel them.

He felt a crushing feeling drag down his mood as her hands stopped and pulled away at that revelation. A second later, she was how she was before and remarked: _“Such a gaudy collar.”_

Byleth chuckled to himself at her candid comment, and was soon joined by her ethereal tittering as she soared past and ‘sat’ on a dresser across from him, her legs dangling over the edge. She kicked them a little, each backswing blocking them from sight as they disappeared into the wood."I didn't make this, you know that, right?" 

She shrugged in response, _"It is you who chooses to wear it. Although I must admit, it is certainly more becoming of the heir to the throne than your previous attire considering its state right now."_ Her head inclined to her right, and his eyes followed to find his mercenary garb messily strewn over a chair, covered in mud stains and torn. The echoing giggles sounded from the space she was occupying again.

"What happened last night was not my fault. You of all people should know that." He crossed his arms and looked back to the spectral figure who had stopped giggling.

" _I am aware. I would be a fool to not be, Byleth._ " Her lips curled into a small smile. " _Besides, I would say it was worth it, was it not? A nice, relaxing walk in the forest near the village of Remire, the sunset illuminating our path, that small little stream we sat by while you talked until the moon was high in the sky, recounting the war… and the bandit ambush! How rude of them to interrupt our moment together!_ "

"It was like the old days though…" his voice trailed off. Sothis' gentle smile brought warmth to his heart... her heart?

_"Our heart."_

Their heart.

He sat in silence, unsure of how to continue the conversation past this point without ruining the moment. Sothis watched, her smile as amused as ever as she seemingly read his thoughts-

 _"I am. I said this last night, you can no longer hide anythi-"_ She was cut off by the sharp sound of knocking from the door to the bedroom. _"Oh… it appears your time is up. Well, off you go! I will take a rest within so I can observe this strange ceremony that you must undertake."_

She clapped her hands together as she exclaimed this, then began to fade away in a green light, though not before she could offer one last encouraging statement. _"Fear not, for you will do well. I have placed my faith in you."_

He smiled, touched by her words, but another sharp wrap on the door drew him out of that reverie and back to reality. "Professor! Are you awake?" A familiar hearty voice came from the other side of the door.

As Byleth realised swiftly who it was, he felt relief. Things could have been much worse.

He got up, brushing down his robes and cloak. He grabbed from the chest of drawers across from him one final accessory, a circlet fashioned to resemble Sothis' own headdress and carefully positioned it on his head as he had done when he last wore this outfit.

Byleth gave one last look at the room, then into the mirror hung on the opposing wall. An almost unrecognisable figure stared back at him, garbed in exquisite regalia that masked the uncertainty and fear that the figure truly felt.

But that was irrelevant now, he had a duty to upkeep, one that dictated the lives of thousands.

Byleth tore his gaze away from the mirror, and approached the door. Right as he reached out to the handle to open it, he heard the knocking again. The door was quickly opened, catching the person on the other side off guard.

All they could do was stare blankly for a moment.

Byleth stared right back.

“G’morning, Alois.”

“Professor- or should I say, your majesty!” The captain of the knights smiled wide, his hand still up in the mid-knocking position that he had been caught with. “I see you are already prepared!”

The mercenary-turned-professor-turned-heir sighed. “I am nobody’s majesty yet, but I have gotten dressed for the ceremony. Were you sent to bring me to the cathedral?”

“No, actually.” Alois gradually had gotten closer, almost to the point of pushing Byleth back into the room. It was a sight to see the large man suited in steel plated armour try to make his way through the doorway intended for the teenage students that had once attended the academy, but he did manage it. Byleth sat back down on the bed, intrigued now that it wasn’t a call to duty.

Now comfortably inside the room, Alois closed the door behind him and made his way to the desk, sitting down on the chair. “I wanted to know how you are feeling with what has happened in the past two moons.” 

_I just went through this with Sothis._

He felt something stirring within his mind, a ghost of a yawn from somewhere.

This was going to be his day, wasn’t it? People checking up on him at a time like this? The sentiment was nice, but already he was weary of talking about it after Sothis theorised these people using him as a scapegoat. He could not just ignore Alois though as he sat there, arguably the most well-meaning individual he could be speaking to at this point.

“I’m fine. Nervous, but that was expected.” A short answer, maybe one that twisted the truth a little, for Byleth was not exactly fine. Deep down, he was scared, helpless, but still managing to be in control of himself, if only for the sake of others

That at least constituted nervousness, didn’t it? Byleth looked away, towards the dresser that Sothis had sat on. She was not there, obviously, and he could not fully feel her presence-

_“What is it? I was about to fall asleep once more.”_

He flinched as the goddess reappeared on the dresser, lounging on her side. When she saw Alois just behind him, her eyes went wide. _“Oh! Could it be that I interrupted something?”_ She scanned him for a response, which she got in the form of a faint incline of his head. _“Very well, please, if you could not wake me during my moments of repose it would be quite appreciated. I spent all night watching over you… it has been so long.”_ With that, she curled up where she lay and faded away, her eyes falling shut.

_“He’s… talking to you…”_

“-if you ever need anything, know that your old pal Alois is here to help you.” Byleth swivelled his head back around to look at the older man who was just as warm as he always had been. Although he did not hear the first part, the idea got itself across fine.

Byleth crossed his arms and offered a small smile in return for the kind words. “Thank you, Alois, I appreciate it.” Just as he said that, a loud knocking came at the door.

Alois pushed himself to his feet and walked over to open it, and was met with Cyril on the other side. He looked taken aback to be faced by the knight, as Byleth could see the shocked expression on his face from behind Alois, but he quickly recovered and glanced around the man’s body to look at Byleth. “Seteth sent me, the coronation ceremony is ready.”

“Oh, I thought we would have had a bit more time. Seems that is not the case.” Surprisingly, Alois’ tone sounded a bit less upbeat than it had before. He moved out of the way of the door as Byleth stood up and walked past him.

One thing that Byleth noted was that Cyril, who normally seemed quite devoted to his work, looked to be on edge, he looked at Byleth with an unreadable expression and took a step backwards to guide him along the path he knew so well. “Everybody’s in the cathedral now, people from Remire village, some nobles from the old Kingdom and Empire lands, as well as high ranking lords of the Alliance.”

People Byleth would probably have to avoid to stop him embarrassing himself. “I expected as much. What about my students?” At the very least he could have a proper conversation with them.

“I saw most of them, Hilda, Ingrid, Lysithea, only Claude’s not there.” Cyril brought him through the courtyard of the monastery, where he first spoke to Claude about the members of the Golden Deer House, and often a place where the Blue Lions sparred besides the usual training grounds. Now it was an empty and eerily quiet echo of a bygone era. A gentle breeze blew through the arches surrounding the courtyard, producing a quiet howling noise that served to be the only sound besides Cyril’s voice and Alois’ heavy footsteps.

The cathedral loomed behind the main buildings of the academy, towering over all but the Goddess Tower itself. A marvel of architecture, for sure, but imposing even on the best of days.

As they entered the corridor that led them on a branching path to the entrance hall of the academy, the cemetery and the cathedral, Byleth realised that he had not responded. “Good, I’d like to speak to them once we’re done.”

“Alright then.” They took the left turn that would lead them to the cathedral bridge. Upon entering the open air, Byleth found the small group suddenly surrounded by Falcon Knights and Wyvern Riders from above, though not high enough to be seen over the buildings beforehand.

They circled around them as the group crossed the bridge, watching to ensure that he safely made it to the ceremony. They made it, and took a few steps up the bridge, only for Byleth to stop.

“Byleth?” Alois turned, his concern evident. Cyril followed, though the younger man seemed to be more confused.

Byleth turned around on the steps, considering walking back down them for this, but stopped himself for how it would appear to everyone there, including the aerial squadrons. He looked out over the forests and fields that he could see from where they were on the bridge, slightly obscured by both the cathedral walls and the Oghma mountains that the monastery was caged in by.

He looked up at the squadrons, free in the sky, and from deep within felt a longing to be among them. It was strange, a feeling somewhat alien to him, but one that he resonated with. He had never ridden a flying mount before outside of one battle that he had attempted to do so. He found that it had interfered with his swordsmanship too much for him to consider it again.

Such a strange sensation it was.

The man had to take a moment to tear his eyes away from the sight and another to quash the intrusive thoughts. He turned back to Cyril and Alois, both somewhat dumbfounded. “I’m sorry, let’s go.”

Quick as lightning, he shot past Cyril and Alois up to the main doors of the cathedral, finding the portcullis already lifted. Two church soldiers manned each side of the door, and they beat the ground with the hilt of their spears in a salute. Cyril caught up relatively quickly, while Alois took just a little bit longer in his cumbersome gear.

“Where did that come from?” Alois looked down at where they had come from, shocked.

“I needed to get out of there before I got lost in thought again.” Byleth brushed down the robes one last time before mentally going over the basic idea of the ceremony in his head. He had been supplied a draft by Seteth of what had to be said and when, as well as being guided through it in person by Lorenz.

The two soldiers on each side of the door then moved to begin slowly opening it. Byleth found himself bathed in a golden light that rushed out of the cathedral, from hanging lights and other lavish decorations above the doors.

A choir began to sing when he took one step inside, at first one single voice that was then joined by others, mixing together to create a haunting yet reverent melody to usher in a new era that held respect for what came before it. The wielder of the power of the progenitor god ascending the throne, the ruler of a new dawn.

Another step forward. All eyes were on him.

And another, was it just him or was it hot in here?

Another, had this happened prior to his induction into the academy, Byleth doubted he would feel this much apprehension.

From the corner of his eyes he saw his former students, the silver hair of Ashe, brawny Raphael, headstrong Leonie, then the others, Hilda, Lysithea, Bernadetta, Marianne, Ingrid, Ignatz, Lorenz, even Petra was there. He offered a silent murmur of thanks to those that had come.

The pressure the former mercenary felt did not alleviate the further along the path he travelled, the stares of so many he did not know who likely knew of his reputation as the Ashen Demon, a persona he now saw as long dead.

The chanting songs echoed around the room and into his head, hymns and lyrics he knew from his time teaching at the academy and partaking in choir practices, now given new meaning. Each passing verse, seemingly increasing in the severity of their tone, recounting the descent of the goddess and her role on Fódlan, now false teachings from what he and a few other individuals knew as of that day.

It reached a peak, with Seiros fighting against the King of Liberation, Nemesis, right as he reached the altar, and faded out with the final verse he knew as he knelt down before the altar and Archbishop.

After that, the individual before him raised his hand, and a hush came across the vast building. The stark silence was deafening, even more so than the choir that preceded it, then it was severed as the voice of the archbishop cut through it like a sword.

"People of Fódlan, I present to all of you your sovereign, Byleth Eisner. As the beginning of a new dawn for Fódlan, all of us must do our part by pledging our allegiance and paying homage, which if you have come here to do so, I now bid you speak forth."

Byleth flashed a glance up at the man as he spoke, the pre-agreed words rolling off his tongue easily and with perfect accuracy, and found an individual who stood straight with purpose. The crowd that had gathered cheered in response to his words, praising Byleth and lifting him above what he had been before.

Byleth’s eyes fell to the ground once more, and he waited for the people to quiet down. He heard the faint rustling of clothes, and silence descended. A faint noise that did not sound like it belonged to anyone in the crowd or at the altar came to Byleth’s attention, but he dared not break his pose again now that there was no cheering to distract the others.

Although that would be rendered pointless, as the Archbishop commanded. “Look at me.” Byleth raised his gaze, looking directly at the man he once knew as part of his army, the right hand of the former archbishop. “Do you, in this time of great need, swear to govern the former lands of the Adrestian Empire, the Leicester Alliance and the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus with consideration of their laws, customs and way of life?"

“I do swear to do so.” A nagging thought in the back of Byleth’s mind resurfaced as he remembered a small plan of his from the night before. An alteration to his lines, though not a drastic one, that came with Sothis’ reappearance.

"And do you swear to uphold the name of justice during your reign, and to treat those in need with mercy and grace, never using your power against the peoples' will?" The archbishop continued, his stare piercing through Byleth.

Byleth dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement then returned to his previous posture. "I do swear to be just and merciful in my actions."

The archbishop then spoke the final oath, one likely not approved by Claude, but one that worked for the people of Fódlan as they were today. "Do you swear that you will do your utmost to follow the teachings of the goddess, to stand as a beacon against the darkness and defend Fódlan for as long as you reign?"

For just a second, Byleth paused, thinking over what it was he was going to say. Going off the script could likely cause some concern amongst those in the know about the preparation of the ceremony, however, it did not change the nature of his answer to everyone around him, only to the individual resting within his soul.

He looked up at the man before him, one that managed to keep himself together despite recent events both taking those he held dear away from him, and being thrust into a massive position of power. In his archbishop regalia, Seteth looked like an immovable object, stoic.

"I will be devoted to the goddess in both body and soul. I will defend this country with all of the power vested in me. I will be her herald to help usher in a new age of peace, and rule the country to the best of my ability despite my inexperience. This I swear, or so shall the Goddess of Fódlan smite me where I stand.” 

Seteth looked taken aback by the answer, but Byleth didn't linger on that for long as he felt a wave of warmth and happiness wash over him as Sothis appeared in front of the archbishop.

She stood there, a red glow clear on her cheeks as she smiled at him. _"You do honour me, Byleth."_ It was hard to keep himself both appearing to look at her and Seteth at the same time. She appeared to note that and walked closer, to the point where her forehead touched his own. He could not feel anything, but her hands soon found their way around his neck.

From behind Sothis, he heard Seteth continue with what had been the script, “Then by the power vested in me by the Goddess-”

 _“I did not vest anything in you.”_ Sothis’ head turned to look back at him, although the man could neither see nor hear her, and so he continued uninterrupted.

“-I hereby declare you to be our sovereign leader, guiding our lands forward into tomorrow.” Internally, Byleth wished she would move so he could see what was now happening as he heard loud footsteps approach him. With a slight incline of her head back in his direction, Sothis shifted to the side, one of her arms falling away before it phased into him.

Before him, Seteth stopped and lowered himself to kneel to Byleth’s level. Taking each hand in his own, the new archbishop rose, bringing both to their feet. He whispered quickly, “That concludes the first ceremony,” before saying with a much louder voice, “And now, we shall retreat into the Holy Mausoleum to complete our sacred rituals.”

Inwardly, Byleth sighed in relief. The next section was to be completed in relative seclusion, so even if he did truly make an error, it would only be in front of Seteth and other high ranking church members who already knew him for the slightly emotionally stilted being that he truly was right.

 _“I will also be watching closely,”_ he heard Sothis pipe up to his left, but when he went to look at her, she was missing. Instead what he saw was her walking towards the Mausoleum’s entrance, flowing blue and gold robes falling into the ground behind her. Naturally, none of the people around reacted to her presence.

Crossing his vision was Seteth who passed him to leave the altar’s pedestal. By the time he had passed, Sothis had practically evaporated into thin air, with nothing but a faint green glow left behind her to indicate her presence.

He followed the archbishop down the stairs and around the erected platform, past the crowd on the left-hand side of the cathedral and towards the guarded set of ornate doors that marked the entrance to the seldom visited site. The green wisps of light that often marked Sothis’ appearance left a trail that proceeded even through the doors as they were opened.

Beyond was a large, spiralling stairway that descended into darkness. A small brazier at the top was inlaid with several metal torches. Each member of the clergy that accompanied the group- as well as Alois and a handful of knights who had also followed, unbeknownst to Byleth- equipped themselves with one, leaving two for the heir and archbishop.

Something Byleth had never taken notice of were the large carvings covering the walls of the stairwell. Massive, bestial shapes that warped and twisted along the stone walls were inlaid with runes of a language that Byleth could not decipher. He could see the goddess walking ahead of them, and Sothis continued her well-played, if slightly flawed mimicry of corporeality.

Some of her steps betrayed the fact she was technically floating, as her feet occasionally remained hanging in the air with each step. As soon as he took notice of that, however, she appeared to correct herself, slowing as her steps became more deliberate.

Eventually Byleth’s entourage passed her due to her decreased speed, and with a huff, she relegated herself to floating along next to him, observing the walls just like he had before. Within due time they came to reach the bottom where the tomb itself lay.

At the foot of the stairwell, a huge stone arch led into the main body of the chamber, manned by two braziers lit with viridian flames. The carvings here mostly appeared to be vague patterns and those same writings that he couldn’t make out in the slightest. Seteth appeared forlorn as he ignored them and pressed on.

Sothis, however, seemed fixated, she levitated up to take a closer look, and splayed her hands over the wall. _“I should know what this means. I’ve seen it before…”_ Although he would have liked to give her as much time as she needed to wrack her broken memories for something that could unlock their key to reading them, the final knight had just passed Byleth. He had to go.

The Mausoleum itself had not changed at all since Byleth had last been there. Rows upon rows of tombs laid in a grid-like pattern on each side of the raised pathway of stone. Had he not known what they held, he would have not thought twice, but now that he did, a choked aura of death hung over the holy site.

The group travelled along said path, their footsteps sounding louder in the empty hall than Byleth had anticipated, especially since many of them wore heavy metallic armour.

Each side of the room was marked with more beast figures. One of which Byleth somewhat recognised. The massive, feathered wings and bird-like visage reminded him of the monster he and Claude had fought in the desert. Above them, one more wall carving was cut out of the wall, as well as a strange, yet also familiar mural.

The carving was easily figured to be the Immaculate One, as the horn structure and body shape perfectly matched the draconic form that Rhea had taken. The mural however was another story.

A serene woman, clad in white robes hovered above five humanoid figures and five holy beasts. One of the holy beasts was the Immaculate One, just like the carving on the ceiling next to it, but again, his attention was drawn to one of the beasts on the right. That _was_ the Wind Caller from Sreng. It had the same colouration and everything.

Behind it flew a large armoured beast with a singular horn on its snout and two wrapping around its jaw. Its overall ungainly looking form looked to Byleth as one that wouldn’t be too graceful in the air, but the mural depicted it as such.

To the right of the Immaculate One were two others, a large, streamlined beast with spines on its back and wings rivalling the size of the Wind Caller’s. Its snout was long and narrow, but the mural itself seemed to be slightly degraded on that side and as such he could not make out many more details. The most he could make out of the final one was a distinctive striped pattern.

As he walked and observed, the only real conclusion that he could come to, given that Seiros was both her human form and The Immaculate One, was that the Wind Caller was one of the Saints as well, and as such the rest of the Saints must be alive somewhere as well.

And if those were the Saints and their bestial forms, then the figure in the centre above The Immaculate One had to be-

 _“Me?”_ Sothis had been drawn away from her reverie, and reappeared next to him, also gazing upon the mural as they walked. There were five carvings in total in the vast chamber, each matching the appearance of the beasts in the mural.

He hadn’t noticed before, due to his scanning of the environment, but one of the clergymen held a lavishly decorated wooden box close to his body. By this point they had reached the bottom of the great stairwell that led up to the throne that so closely resembled Sothis’ in her dream realm.

Whether it was the original or not, he did not know, but as he followed Seteth up, he found that this one was at least the same size as hers.

Upon reaching the top, he looked back over the chamber, the rows upon rows of tombs dominating the view. Most of the people who had followed him here remained standing at the bottom of the stairs, save for the one man who still held onto the box for dear life. As Byleth looked at him, he quivered slightly as though simultaneously afraid of and in awe of the man who stood before the throne.

Sothis briefly appeared, using her incorporeal form to force her head though the box. A second later she withdrew, her eyebrows raised.

_“Such a young one, too, for one regarded so highly amongst the church that he is allowed to hold what he is holding.”_

“Please, Byleth, be seated so we can continue.” Seteth requested, stepping back so Byleth could pass by him. With no time to question Sothis, he hurried over to the ancient monument and seated himself. Almost instantly, an eerie green light cascaded over the dais.

“One blessed by the goddess-” he heard the young man begin utter, but Sothis promptly spoke over him.

 _“Such a show-off.”_ She floated into the air and crossed her legs. Her words appeared mocking, but her smile and tone of voice betrayed her happiness at the strange event. It had happened once before, on his last visit to the Mausoleum before the war started.

Next to him, Seteth ordered the young bishop to place the box on the ground. Slowly opening it, Byleth was able to see the brief shimmer of a metal object, but first, Seteth removed three other objects. A shield, a staff and an amulet. Likely ceremonial objects for the coronation.

“These were created to represent the passing of each of the former powers that ruled over this land. The Sceptre of Enbarr-” He passed the first of the three, a silver staff inlaid with a reddish metal that Byleth couldn’t quite discern the identity of, spiralling around the shaft and grip towards the tip, where an eagle’s head stared skyward.

“The Shield of Faerghus-” Into his remaining free hand went a steel shield with a roaring lion’s face carved into it. Blue fabric coated the grip, with a long strip hanging below the front of the piece. The shield itself actually seemed functional, which surprised Byleth.

Sothis watched with a curious gaze for the first two objects, but when Seteth lifted the final one, she cooly remarked: _“These seem quite obvious, do they not?”_

The final piece was attached around Byleth’s neck. “And finally, the Amulet of Leicester.” Just like the last two, this bore the representative animal of its faction, the Golden Deer of Leicester. It was a small golden amulet with antlers spread out from a deer’s head which acted as the base.

Sothis took one look at him and started snickering to herself. He couldn’t really move from this pose he was now in, clutching both the Sceptre and Shield tightly in each hand while sitting on the stone throne.

It was a strange getup, although when Byleth thought about it, this shouldn’t be much for Sothis to comment on, given that his robes were ‘gaudy’ beforehand. She only doubled over more when he realised that.

It was then that he remembered that she had admitted to reading his thoughts before Alois had barged in. By this point the goddess was upside down, kicking her legs slightly as her giggling subsided. She righted herself as Seteth leaned down to the box and lifted out the final object.

It was… some kind of hat. A tall one, at that. Wasn’t it supposed to be a metallic crown? Sothis’ laughter kicked off again at his confusion. For the most part, it was black, with golden wing-like patterns flanking it on each side. The rim was of the same golden colour, and a number of rubies were embedded into the strange accessory.

“And to make them complete, the crown of the Church of Seiros. With this, you are officially crowned as the ruler of this land and her people.” Tentatively, Byleth lowered his head to allow Seteth to place the headgear on his head. It fit neatly, practically sliding into place alongside the diadem that he already wore. “I know that you are not well versed in matters of politics and finer diplomacy with your upbringing, so know that the others and I will try to assist if you are in need of help.”

The archbishop then knelt before him. While Byleth understood why Seteth was doing it, the emotions it evoked were new and unusual to him. The man who did not trust him from the beginning now knelt at his feet in reverence. Those behind him had followed suit, including Alois and the guards below the dais.

Fittingly however, Sothis did not bow. It was likely for the best, as he did not know how he would react to the goddess herself bowing to his authority. She did nod her head in recognition at the very least, floating on her stomach with that familiar soft smile.

Thus ended the second phase of the ceremony. Now began the final stretch before the more relaxed celebrations could begin.

He stood, the sceptre and shield still in hand, and the others followed, rising from their kneeling positions. With a quick incline of his head, Seteth nodded and had the young man close the large box and lift it into his arms again. This time, it appeared as though there was much less of a strain on him, and as the one now wearing the contents, Byleth had to admit, the shield in particular was quite heavy.

 _“If you fall...”_ Sothis murmured, now leaning on his shoulder as she looked down the long flight of stairs. The answer was simple, he would use his powers that _she_ gifted him to reverse time and watch his step more. Apparently, that was not the correct answer as Sothis dropped to the ground. _“It would be like an accident that I could not take my eyes away from. Please do be wary.”_

He nodded slowly, and shifted the shield so it didn’t obscure his vision as he walked down. On his right side, Seteth took hold of his arm to support his balance. Sothis dropped down ahead of them, floating down the stairs with an approving smile on her face.

As they made their way back to the spiraling staircase that led them back to the cathedral, Byleth spared a glance at the mural once more. He noticed that behind the main woman was a pair of glowing white wings spread out in a descending maneuver.

Sothis seemed transfixed by the image, and he could not blame her. Her petite frame was a far cry from the eerie majesty of- oh, now she was glaring at him.

 _“How very rude! Just because I happened to reform with this body does not call for such disrespectful thoughts! I am… Well, maybe not so much the goddess I once was, but still!”_ She jabbed a finger through his chest as he tried to look like he was simply walking. As much as she seemed mad, she seemed somewhat melancholic over the loss of her original form.

If anything, he felt bad for shooting her self-esteem like that. Childish form aside, she was a supportive and fun individual to be around, who cared for him and although she didn’t show it as often, all the other residents of Fódlan. From the time his father died, she was one of the few people he was comfortable enough with to be vulnerable around.

All-in-all, she was a place of comfort to him, a strange constant in his life that had pervaded his dreams before she awoke in Garreg Mach, and only disappeared during that fateful day until the end of the war.

He was ever-grateful to her for returning, the beloved goddess who shared his soul until the end of time. The being who guided and protected him. To think that just because of her varying forms he thought any less of her…

She looked at him and shook his head, a sad smile appearing on her face before she suddenly disintegrated into thin air.

_“I... apologise, it may be best that I get some sleep.”_

Seeing as how she had supposedly been awake all night watching over him, it probably was for the best. He was particularly irritable himself if he did not sleep well, to think of a being that often slept for days on end to recover energy being in need of it…

She faded from his mind as they reached the bottom of the stairs and began to travel back up. With the added weight of the shield and sceptre, the trip left his knees burning by the time they got to the top. They deposited their torches back at the brazier and passed by the large doors to the cathedral.

Had Byleth not known any better, he would have been surprised that the room was virtually empty bar a small number of people working quickly around a makeshift throne situated on a liftable platform. Thankfully, he knew the implications of it. He was to be lifted and paraded around Garreg Mach and the nearby village as a show of his coronation being complete.

A little flashy, for his taste, he would have preferred to emerge from the Mausoleum to those already in the cathedral when he went down, but the others wanted to make a large and happy event of it, so he conceded.

The men and women quickly stepped away as he approached, bowing as soon as they had stopped. “There’s no need.” he interjected, clambering onto the great chair as quickly as he could, as a few of the knights walked around to grab hold of the four stilts. 

Alois grabbed onto the front left one and in time with his subordinates, hoisted it over his shoulder. “I’m sure this is quite something, your majesty!” he hollered back.

“It’ll take some time to get used to this… and that title too. Took me a while to get used to professor, as well.” Desperately holding onto the two larger ceremonial relics, Byleth swayed with the chair’s initial lift.

If only they could be as simple as the amulet.

Once they actually had him held stable, the group began to move forward. The first minute was mostly uneventful, but as they continued onwards, he noticed more and more of the people in the cathedral realising what was going on, and beginning to follow him. Cheers began to rise up as many sang his praises, especially his former students and fellow generals, who stayed the closest of all.

So close, in fact, that when one of the knights fell under the weight, Raphael rushed in to replace him so that the chair would not fall. He grinned up at him proudly, “Hey, professor! Hang in there!”

“I shall try, thank you, Raphael.” he smiled down at the buff man and readjusted himself in his seat. Eventually the cheering began to get to him, as he felt his face heat up. In response he lifted the shield to try and cover himself. A sharp laugh drew his attention to his other side where he saw Hilda walking along, looking up at him in his embarrassment.

“Professor, are you shy?” she teased, waggling her finger at him. “Look at them! They’re happy with you!” Indeed, as he lowered the shield slightly, he could see many who were indeed cheerful and optimistic. Some looked more apprehensive than anything, and given his mostly unheard of real name before he arrived at Garreg Mach, he would not blame them. All he had to his name was that he helped Claude win the war, and that he was formerly the Ashen Demon, son of the Blade Breaker. Not exactly prime ruler material.

He made it past the entrance hall of the monastery, where the gatekeeper fired him a salute. Byleth returned the gesture, much to the pleasure of the following crowd, and the man who had offered him his reports at Garreg Mach burst into a great smile and began to wave.

Merchants peeked over at the proceedings curiously, including the unusual pink haired girl that sold rarer artefacts. Many who looked to be getting little business hurried to close their shops so they could follow as well.

As the gates to the monastery began to rise, he heard the loud chiming of the bells. They were an old, nostalgic sound, one that he was used to hearing, but deep down, Byleth felt like he wouldn’t hear them again for a long time.

They passed under those ancient gates, his grip still firm upon the handle and shaft of the shield and sceptre, Byleth looked out over the landscape ahead, the villages, fields, mountains and forests all laid out across the fields of both the former church and empire lands.

All of them were his now, to guide and protect. His gift, his responsibility. To be monitored by a former mercenary.

He offered a quiet prayer to the sleeping goddess in his head, so as to not wake her this time as he wondered: What game was fate playing with him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 28/02/2021 - Eeegh, there are some lore inconsistencies here that I need to fix in the coming weeks to months. Expect this to occur around the same time as the chapter 4 update or between it and 5.


	2. Festivities

These lights are awfully bright.

As the day passed, Byleth had dealt with many people, both of common and noble birth approaching him to either personally pledge their loyalty or offer their best wishes. But for as much as he appreciated the support, it had grown tiring.

Part of this issue was that the stream wasn’t ending. The sun had set long ago, and across the land, most people were asleep in their beds. He wanted to join them, the ceremony had begun at ten in the morning according to the sundial, but the celebrations were still deep underway.

Food was served, drinks were passed, and all around Byleth could hear the raucous celebrations of a mixture of the classes of Fodlan. From his seat at the head of the main table set up in the entrance hall, he could see Leonie and Raphael tearing into their food, and Lorenz, who sat near them, surprisingly did not seem to be raising a stink about it.

“-jesty, I just wanted to say, you stopped that army right before it got to my family’s farm. We are ever grateful.” 

He looked away from the sight of his companions to the grizzled man who had just been permitted to speak to him. A troubled look passed over Byleth’s face as he tried to recall which one he had stopped. The one travelling with Nemesis perhaps? It had cut a bloody swath across the southern Leicester Alliance.

Perhaps that was the one, although it may have just been an Empire army that they happened upon during the war. In any case, he quickly wiped the expression from his face and smiled, albeit weakly. “I’m glad to have helped, although I do not recognise you. Where are you from?”

The man blinked, opening and closing his mouth, although no words came out, until he finally managed to speak. “‘M from Myrddin. My family’s lived there for years.” Gloucester’s territory, it seemed.

“Then you’re in good hands.” He said as he turned back to the food on his plate, although all Byleth ended up taking was a swig of water from the metal goblet he had been gifted by one of the earlier nobles. It wouldn’t do well to get drunk, at least not while he was still talking to people like this. “I happen to personally know the new lord of that land. He’ll treat you well.”

Although his attention was mostly taken by his drink, he did not miss the hopeful look on the man’s face. “Thank you!” Why was he thanking him? It wasn’t like he was going to directly govern or protect his family, that was Lorenz’ job now.

At that point one of the knights moved in to usher the man on. Soon another would replace him, and another interaction like that would take place. At first he just wanted to enjoy the festivities now that he had the emotional capacity to do so, but everyone seemed to gravitate towards him.

With a sigh, Byleth placed his head in his hands. Every time there was some cause for celebration at Garreg Mach, he was treated like a magnet. Now he was just drained.

 _“Just like the ball.”_ A green head of hair suddenly appeared on his lap for the first time since the Mausoleum, startling him. The hat-crown slipped a little, though he caught it and pushed it back into position. The ethereal tittering rang in his ears as Seteth looked over at him from across the table.

“Is everything quite alright?” The archbishop lowered his utensils back onto the table, head tilted in concern.

Byleth nodded and pushed his plate away from him as he leaned his arms on the table in a crossed fashion. “Just tired. Do you think you could stop the constant audiences? I’ll deal with them later, I just want to relax for now.”

Seteth glanced past the chair that Byleth was sitting on, and before he could even turn to see what he was looking at, he heard Alois’ voice call out. “Knights of Seiros! Gather round!”

Soon he heard the heavy metallic footsteps of some of the knights clustering around the table. “We need a barrier, make sure no one gets through to disturb the king. Understood?” Despite his usual cheery nature, he had to give it to Alois, he was the head of the knights for a reason.

Sothis lifted herself up and perched herself on the table, gesturing to the line of knights now circling his end of the table. _“How long has it been like that?”_

If Byleth had to guess, he had been in the hall for a few hours at this point, locked to his chair for fear of being mobbed. Once again, he rested his head in his hand as Sothis ghosted her hand through his hair.

 _“Poor, poor king. Always the favourite! It’s a pity you can’t just leave this time, but at least the knights are keeping them all at bay now.”_ A soft yawn escaped her lips. At this point he was tired of only being able to communicate with her through his thoughts. Byleth wanted to speak out. _“I agree, I do so enjoy the sound of your voice when you are talking to me.”_

He smiled softly at that, looking in her direction to be met with a happy, fanged grin. Soon he would be able to speak to her properly, but he just had to last a little longer.

“Oh goddess save us.” Byleth’s attention was taken from Sothis back to Seteth, who was looking past him at something while pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked around to see Manuela wandering over. Looking back to Seteth, he pondered, what was wrong with Manuela coming over? Personally he didn’t have much of a problem with his former colleague besides her sometimes overbearing search for a partner.

He was taken, anyway, so it didn’t matter much. At that thought a feeling of warmth and comfort filled him, and he looked up at Sothis, who was still staring at Manuela. If he looked closer, however, he swore he could see a vague hint of redness.

The red glow dramatically increased, and Sothis quickly pointed out, _“Her leg looks a little unusual.”_ At that, she vanished, although he could still feel her in his mind, watching through his eyes.

As he looked at the approaching songstress he noticed what Sothis had. A large bottle of something was strapped tight to her leg, and judging by Seteth’s reaction Byleth could only guess that it was alcohol. Why it was necessary for her to have it, Byleth didn’t know, for there already were a multitude of drinks in the hall for one to enjoy. That being said, it was quite the amusing sight, for she had a slightly unstable gait because of that additional weight brought on by the bottle.

He thought the knights weren’t going to stop her at first, until right as she was about to pass through, one raised his arm to block her path. “Sorry Professor Manuela, his majesty’s not taking audiences now.” She responded to the knight with a shocked look, before looking through at the three situated at the table.

“Do you want to let her through?” Alois said, holding his hand at the ready to open the barrier. Seteth had gone back to eating, although he appeared to be almost finished with that meal. He looked down at his own, the rich meal not even being a quarter finished due to the breaks he had taken to speak with people.

He was hungry.

Byleth exhaled and turned his head around, “May I speak to you when I’m done eating?” 

“But of course, Profe- er, your majesty! I’ll be outside with some of the students!” And with that, she left. Byleth returned to his meal. Unfortunately, the other edge appeared to have cooled throughout its time sitting at his table. He could hardly complain, though, for he had been the one to allow so many people to interrupt him while he was eating.

Even then, he had lived out on the road for such a large portion of his life, eating cold meals with his father and his mercenary band. Being used to his food being in this condition, Byleth happily worked his way through the meal. Occasionally he heard the knights stopping people trying to walk up to him.

To put it simply, he didn’t exactly want to care right now about those seeking an audience with him. Like Manuela, he would deal with it later.

Despite being partially cooled, the bourgeois pike was no less enjoyable. The chefs at the monastery spared no expense when preparing their entire menu for today, for he found there to be an almost boundless supply of food in the pantries for each meal. In this post-war country, gathering all of this must have been no easy feat for either the church or for the common folk from which this was all procured from.

As a result, he had told Seteth when the food started being delivered: Make good use of it when rebuilding the other sections of the monastery or redistribute the leftovers back to whence it came. It was only fair.

Eventually, he finished the food and washed it down with the remainder of his water, and placed everything back down on the table. He looked around, seeing some of his students mingling with groups of people. He could see Ashe happily talking away to Marianne, who held one of her rare smiles upon her face.

Hilda was dancing with a number of former students that appeared to have survived the war, although Byleth did not teach them, so he could not recall any of their names. As for the rest of his students… he could not see them. He had a sneaking suspicion as to where Bernadetta was, but for Ignatz, Lysithea and Ingrid, he had no idea. Perhaps the library?

Even then, none had taken initiative to come speak with him after the parade. Pity flowed through him for a second, puzzling Byleth until he saw Sothis materialise a few metres away from the table. She cast a longing glance at those dancing and mingling, then shook her head and turned back to him. Her hand extended towards Byleth. _“Come.”_

He’d seek them out tomorrow, if they hadn’t left already. With that resolved, Byleth pushed out his chair and stood up, drawing Seteth’s attention. “Where are you going?” 

“I’d like to head back to my room, if that is alright.” The archbishop looked surprised at that, but nodded and also stood up. “I think I’ve just been in here for too long. It’s getting to my head.”

“Then I’ll go with you. I’ve been meaning to pick something up by the greenhouse, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.” The two, accompanied from a distance by the knights, quickly made their way out of the entrance hall towards the market area.

A few people noticed them and stared, but most were too preoccupied by the ongoing party around them to even be bothered by their presence. They took a right just outside the main gates and passed alongside the fishing pond. Glimmering lanterns were strung across the path and the pond itself, leaving them to be reflected on the pool’s surface like the stars already in the sky.

Some people had taken it upon themselves to hang up decorations on the walls of the greenhouse and dorm-building, candles, potted plants, patterned fabric strips of a multitude of colours and even little pots of incense. A few candles floated on the water as well, carried by little buoyant containers.

That couldn’t be good for the fish.

Most of the people out here seemed to be commoners from the nearby villages. Two children rushed by, holding strips of fur attached to the ends of sticks, the former holding a black piece and the latter holding white. With the way they were running, the furs were flapping in the wind, weaving around each other in a strange dance of sorts that caught both his and Sothis’ eye.

“Your majesty!” his attention was ripped away by Manuela approaching. Behind her, he could see Lysithea looking down at the bottle formerly strapped to Maneula’s leg in utter confusion as to what she was supposed to do with it. “I’m sorry to be a bother, but I just wanted to announce something.”

“And that is?” Sothis still stared at the two children who ran past again, her hand extending out to brush against the furs, though she caused no resistance as they breezed right through her fingers.

She planted her hands on Byleth’s shoulders. “Hanneman and I are getting married! Ah, but archbishop, you already know that, don’t you?” Byleth fired them a somewhat shocked glance as he tried to respond. He knew?

“Con...gratulations?” The two seemed to have nothing in common and constantly bickered. He never picked up on any relationship forming between them.

Sothis chipped in from the background, _“That makes sense for you to not know. You never spoke to them during the time that this place was still an academy except for when you had to! Did you even talk to them at all during the war?”_

Oh, to be called out. Sothis floated into view, grinning smugly as Manuela clapped her hands together once, “I’ve been inviting all of our former students. We plan to have it be held here in a few months, it will be a grand ceremony!” In that case, it made perfect sense for Seteth to know, after all, he did manage the entire church and monastery now.

That being said, it was likely due to her tone that he was invited. Unfortunately he wouldn’t be able to attend, unless due to some miracle he happened to find a break in his schedule. He offered her a tired smile. “If you wish for me to attend, I will see if I can. I unfortunately cannot make any promises.”

“That would be wonderful! Really, I do appreciate it. To have the new king attend would be an honour. It would be like when King Lambert once attended one of my shows when I still was a songstress travelling with the Mittlefrank Opera Company! Oh, to have royalty attend the ceremony on my big day!” She fanned herself lightly in the night air. Some people had gathered around, noticing the king and archbishop. Lysithea had wandered off somewhere since Byleth last saw her, but in the crowd he did see Ingrid, a strangely troubled look on her face.

He nodded politely at Manuela after once again surveying the area. “If it means that much to you, I will try to ensure that there are no major matters that require my attention at that time. I don’t mean to be rude though, but I’m exhausted. I must excuse myself.” Still with that tired smile, he waited to see if she would move. Thankfully she did, and he passed by.

“I wish you all the best, your majesty! Farewell!” She waved at him as he left, and Byleth returned the gesture briefly as he sped off. He could see Seteth linger to speak to her for a moment.

Remembering the archbishop’s own request to visit the greenhouse, he began to readjust his route to head towards the large building. Most in his path moved out of the way, but some were not quick enough to realise they had to move, and so he simply had to squeeze past. Sothis as usual phased through the people in her way, though she eventually took to soaring overhead in order to stay out of the way.

 _“It interferes with my sight to pass through opaque objects. I would prefer to not be plunged into blackness every other second.”_ He heard her voice, soft, yet it was still clear over the din of people talking. Glancing up, he saw her shooting around in the open air at high speeds. The same longing to be up there and join her that gripped him during his moment on the bridge ached deep within him.

But why?

She practically skidded to a halt midair and looked down at him with a confused expression. He could see the green trails marking where she had been clear in the sky. It was almost like the lights strewn across the paths nearer to the ground, showering the fishing pond’s general vicinity in a pulsing green light that only he could see.

It was beautiful, in a way. Sothis flew a little closer to him. _“I feel it too, but I am up here already. Strange, is it not? Even when dancing in the sky I feel empty. It all feels so familiar… Bah.”_ She turned and looked up to see what he had considered beautiful.

Slowly, she floated back down until she was level with him, smiling as she watched the light show gradually fade away, each little emerald ember flickering softly until it was snuffed out by time’s passing. As the final few disappeared she turned her head so that she could gaze upon him instead. _“I was not aware that I had created that.”_

“Amazing.” He responded, turning his eyes to her as well. It was the first thing he had physically said to her all night, escaping out as a quiet voice that, unless one were extremely close by, would go unheard. He saw her reach out her hand for his like she had done that morning, and again he indulged her, their hands visibly touching, but physically phasing through one another.

Unlike the last time, however, she made a grabbing motion as though trying to take hold of his hand. While trying to mask it as best he could, he closed his fist around her slender one, practically engulfing it.

It was enough for her, though, as her mime of reality continued, and she gestured towards the greenhouse. _“The archbishop will be here soon, it would be best to get there before he catches up, would it not?”_

“Indeed.” Byleth breathed out, and he walked in, his hand closed around thin air to those that may or may not be watching. To them, however, he held the hand of the goddess, at least to the best of his ability.

 _“Do not worry about such things, I am content with this right now.”_ He led her over to the rim of the greenhouse planters and rested upon them, holding both hands in his lap. She jumped up beside him, leaning herself against his shoulder, although as always, neither could truly feel it.

A few minutes passed, and Seteth finally arrived in the greenhouse, looking around for him. Byleth raised his hand up to catch his attention, and soon the green haired man was heading over to him. “My apologies, Byleth,” Byleth blinked at his usage of his name, somewhat surprised given the uptight nature that people seemed to have around him.

“I simply had to go over some minor details with Manuela, I do hope you understand- oh, yes!” The man looked a little on edge about something as one of the workers came out carrying a small bundle.

With a grateful nod to the woman, he took it from her hands and gestured for Byleth to follow him again. The three then left the large building that was mostly untouched on the inside by the revelers at the pond.

They proceeded up the stairs towards the dormitories, a few people trailing behind out of curiosity for the two high ranking individuals walking amongst them. Byleth frowned at that, for it meant that they would possibly linger around his room.

He stopped and raised his hand and signalled for the few knights that followed them at a distance to approach. When one came close enough to hear him, he gave the order: “Clear out anyone wandering around the courtyard if they aren’t gone within ten minutes. I just want some peace after all of this. Inform the others, please.”

“Right, sir.” The armoured man turned to go towards his compatriots and relayed the message, while Byleth continued along the side of the dorm building with Seteth and Sothis.

He could see the older man glancing at the now thinning crowd, then at him. To Byleth, he seemed either anxious or as though he was waiting for something.

Finally they made it to the room Byleth had taken residence in during his stay at the monastery. While Seteth and the others had insisted he sleep in a more luxurious area, the simple room was more than enough for the former mercenary. Not only that, it was something he knew, like a place of comfort. That was something he wasn’t keen on letting go of.

He reached out for the handle, only to be interrupted by Seteth who gave one last look to the surrounding area. “If I may, Byleth, I have some information that may be of interest to you.”

Byleth looked at him inquisitively, which prompted the archbishop to continue. “We should head inside first, this is best shared in privacy.” Alois, standing just a few metres away, nodded at the two to confirm he would keep the general populace at bay.

 _“It looks as though we must wait even longer to truly converse. A pity.”_ Sothis mumbled to him. A strong, yet alien feeling of disappointment and annoyance flowed through him which sent a chill down his spine. In a soft flash of light, Sothis disappeared.

Entering the room, Seteth went to sit on the chair next to Byleth’s old desk while the new king seated himself on his bed, taking out a small box of matches to light a candle in the room before Alois closed the door.

“Go on?” Despite the lingering annoyance directed at the archbishop, Byleth felt more curious about the information that was supposedly of interest to him. He placed the candle on the bedside table.

Seteth coughed quickly, clearing his throat before he proceeded. “Flayn contacted me. She’s in Almyra with Claude.” 

Byleth blinked in surprise, then relief flooded him. After the defeat of Nemesis, Flayn had disappeared. While negotiations were ongoing, both Byleth and Seteth went out to search for her but found nothing on the archbishop’s daughter’s fate, much to their despair.

To know she was alive and safe was a relief.

That being said, now that he knew of her whereabouts, he understood why she had not informed anyone of this. Seteth continued. “She has informed me that Claude’s progress on his claim to the throne has been going well. He is likely to be the one that is crowned king, perhaps even within a few months.”

Even more good news! “Well, that’s great for him! Hopefully once he’s done with that we can start working on proper negotiations with Almyra and bring down Fodlan’s Locket once all hostilities are ceased.”

“Indeed, although I would advise against looking too far into the future. It is best for you to take care of the current situation. The end of the war may have stemmed the bleeding of this land, but we still must tend to it, lest it heal improperly or not at all.” 

Byleth rested his chin on his hand as Seteth said that. It was a wise way to think about things, but at the same time, Byleth wasn’t sure of how to ‘tend to the land’ in this new healing phase. The most he could do was fantasise about the end product.

Sothis’ voice cut in to chide him. _“You would do well to avoid thinking like that. Learn from your students, for as much as I may not trust their intentions, they may be instrumental in shaping your leadership qualities behind closed doors. I will guide you as best as I can otherwise.”_

As he looked at Seteth and thought of Sothis, all he could think of was two no-nonsense parents telling him off for slacking on the job.

 _“If you would like me to stop treating you like a child, then stop acting like one. I just said-”_ Sothis continued her snappy and harsh act, though her voice was not laced with malice, just exasperation. The latter part was drowned out by Seteth’s words, however.

“-can be left for the coming days, however. I’m just glad that Flayn is alright, although I wish she had come to me first before making such a rash decision to leave the country.” He had gone off topic, back to Flayn. Not that Byleth could blame him, the man had been distraught since she went missing. Until now, Byleth considered it a wonder he had even been able to finish the ceremony, but the new information explained it.

But as he wished for her actions to be different, Byleth couldn’t help but be honest. “You and I both know that you wouldn’t have let her leave.”

“Byleth, Flayn’s the one thing I truly have left. I just want her to be safe.” 

The sincere sorrow on the archbishop’s face did elicit some pity from the mercenary. To have lost his wife, and now his daughter after all of the effort he went through to protect her… it had to have been hard.

“I don’t think she’ll be gone forever. Just give her some time, she wants to explore the world and experience everything that she can. Maybe when she comes back, she’ll bring you something.” Byleth leaned down to undo the straps on his boots, and proceeded to kick them off. A sharp thud echoed around the room as it collided with the wooden dresser.

“I…” Seteth sighed, then held his hand to his mouth. From where he sat, Byleth could see the distressed look in the archbishop’s eyes. “I was so scared when we couldn’t find her. I thought she was dead. I just want to see her again.” At the very least, the broken man who was barely able to do his job from a month ago now had some hope to keep him going, just like Byleth did with the hope of Claude returning and lightening his load.

It was funny for Byleth to realise that now he was the one trying to keep Seteth on track.

“And you will,” he told the other man. “If you never let her explore things outside of your comfort zone, she will never learn and grow, nor will she be able to protect herself. I trained her as much as I could in faith magic, so now it’s up to her on how to proceed. This just happened to be the path she chose. If there’s any consolation, I doubt Claude will let any harm come to her. They were good friends.”

“I-”

Byleth cut him off, “You were the one who just told me that there were more important things to focus on. Just keep talking to her via mail, but don’t be too pushy about this. I’m probably going to need your help soon, so please try to keep your head on straight. If it will help, I’ll write to Claude about it as well, just stop fretting so much over this all.” He felt as though he was being… harsh. Seven years ago, Byleth wouldn’t have reacted much to this beyond a short, logical answer, no matter how candid he was being. Now? He just felt bad for snapping at Seteth like he just did, so he drew his hands close to his chest. “Apologies, I spoke out of line there.”

Seteth shook his head. “No… perhaps you’re right. My heart is blinding me to my own responsibilities. It is hypocritical of me to reprimand you for being caught up in your own fantasy when I am dwelling on my own problems.” Standing up, he fixed his robes. “However, I should let you sleep. The celebrations may continue well on into the night, so I will do my best to manage the people and send them off once they have concluded.”

For the first time in their small conversation, Byleth cracked a smile and nodded. “Then you’d best be off, then.”

The archbishop inclined his head and walked to the doorway, “Rest well. Unless you wake before your entourage is ready to leave, I will send for you.” And with that, he departed, the door slowly closing shut.

Once he heard the handle clicking, Sothis immediately leapt out from behind him, ‘landing’ deftly on the wooden floor. _“Well! Now that he’s gone, we can-”_

“Sleep.” Byleth finished that sentence for her, drawing a little bewildered noise from the goddess. He began to take off the extravagant outfit that he had been gifted at a steady pace, first the crown-hat, then the circlet, then the armoured rings and bracers, and so on. With the exception of the crown-hat and circlet, the gear was thrown over the old mercenary garb that still needed taken care of. By the end, he wore little more than the black embroidered tunic underneath the silken robes.

Byleth threw himself back onto the bed after he had removed most of the outfit, wriggling around until he was able to make his way under the bed-covers. He could see Sothis still staring at him, although his taking notice of her seemed to draw her out of her stunned silence, and she approached the bed with a look of indignance flashing in her eyes.

 _“Do you really mean to leave me here without any conversation to spice up our evening? How rude of you! I waited all day for this!”_ She tried to pound her hands on the bed, though it made no impact on the fabric. 

In response to that, Byleth couldn’t help but chuckle, for as much as he knew she was trying to be intimidating, it just wasn’t working. Her short stature, coupled with the fluffed up hair, twitching ears and sharp-toothed scowl was, to him, nothing short of adorable. She only flushed red when he thought of her as that and stopped, relegating her efforts to simply pouting at him which did not help her situation in the slightest.

 _“Impudent mercenary,”_ She muttered. 

Byleth rolled his eyes.

He reached out his hand and patted the area on the pillow next to him, inviting her up. She lingered, still a little miffed by his initial disregard for her anticipation of being able to sit back and relax with him, but soon she gave in and got on, dropping down to look as though she was laying next to him.

“I apologise for that, but I’m tired, Sothis. I can speak to you for a little while now, but I’ll have to be up at sunrise.” He ran a hand over the space where her face inhabited, gently brushing the cheek with his now bare knuckles.

She only moved closer in response, to the point where her forehead appeared to meet his own. The indignance had faded as quickly as it came. Such was Sothis, whose emotions seemed to fly by the minute. _“I know, I’m just glad to be here again, to speak with you and participate in Fodlan’s events once more. It is a second chance, no, a third? I forget how many it is now.”_

“I’m pretty sure it’s your third, now.” She seemed satisfied by his confirmation, and closed her eyes when he continued brushing her cheek with his hand.

Then her jade eyes snapped back open again. _“Wait.”_

He stared at the goddess, who stared back realisation visible on her features. Pupils contracted, and slightly distorted, appearing similar to slits, she appeared as some strange beast about to pounce. Inwardly, he gulped. Had he done something that slighted her?

A second later, her eyes dilated back to their normal appearance, any trace of inhumanity missing.

 _“You… you didn’t tell me the rest of the story.”_ Byleth blinked. What story? _“The war, you fool! You were telling me about the war, and then the bandits attacked! What happened at Gronder Field?”_

Oh. Did she not realise that he just said he was tired? If she wanted a half-baked retelling of the story, this was one way to get it. Her eyes narrowed at that, _“Just tell me about the battle at Gronder, the rest can come tomorrow if you so wish.”_

Byleth exhaled audibly and smiled wearily, “Of course, my goddess. Let me think… Ah, yes. We had the main army split into three smaller forces. Claude and I led our troops to the west where we intercepted some Empire troops, while the other two, led by Lorenz and Ashe, headed for the centre of the field and the eastern side respectively.”

Sothis’ demeanour changed once more as she now listened, her head moved away from him so she would not distract him. “We realised, however, that by breaking apart, we left our northern flank open to attacks, as the kingdom sent in a small strike force led by Sylvain after Flayn and Marianne.”

 _“Both of them survived, though.”_ She interjected, despite that now being obvious. Byleth nodded. _“Did you have to make use of my powers?”_

Again, he nodded. “I turned back time to make sure that they made it out fine, as I would need them later in the battle. I had Claude stay behind to take care of any ambushes as I continued to press into the empire’s own northern flank. It proved to be effective, as he reported taking down both Sylvain and two other knights on horseback trying to run down our mages.”

Byleth paused there, gathering his thoughts on the following events to try and best articulate them. “Oh, right! The empire had a grip on the hill in the centre of the field, and kept shooting at us. I had Lorenz and Bernadetta go after the woman using the ballista, only for Edelgard to set the entire hill on fire.”

 _“With her own soldiers up there?”_ Her jade eyes widened at the idea of the empress using her own people as bait for a trap. _“Surely she did not sink to such depths.”_

“She did,” Sothis shook her head in dismay at his words, “but thankfully, nobody in my army really got hurt by it. That’s all I can really say about that. She did end up losing control of the ballista by torching her own generals, which I ended up leaving unmanned, since it would have been a fool’s errand to try and get someone positioned on a burning hill.”

 _“What of the kingdom’s forces? You mentioned that Sylvain youngling, but how did the rest fare?”_ The goddess tilted her head, some of her hair cascading across her face to obscure the left half. On instinct, Byleth tried to brush it aside, though he quickly remembered that they could not touch one another and lowered his hand.

“Well, turns out I accidentally sent Ashe’s forces to take out the kingdom army. As a result of that, he, Petra, Lysithea and Marianne ended up fighting against Felix, Mercedes, Dedue and Dimitri.” He saw the goddess wince at his minor blunder. “Yes, that did not sit too well with him after the battle. I probably should have brought him with me to go after Hubert, but I suppose there’s not much that can be done about that.”

 _“So then… Did he kill the prince? Or did he leave it for another of the group?”_ As she was speaking, Byleth couldn’t help but notice the look of vague sadness on her face at the mention of the death of the other students. Those that neither of them knew in any real capacity, yet she felt sorrow for them.

It was then that he recalled her voice reaching out to him as he lay unconscious at the bottom of that pit.

_**“In order to survive, they kill. And so, the people of this world are lost in an abyss of suffering. They weep as well.”** _

Despite being lost in his soul, she experienced the pain of the people of Fodlan throughout the war. For five years he left her to that fate. Regret welled up within his tired body as he longed to just hold her and apologise for what his own mistakes caused.

Sothis reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, her sorrow still present, but also tinged with something more along the lines of pity. _“Do not linger on such things, for they cannot be altered anymore. The war is over, and the people are free. I am not alone to experience suffering unending.”_

Deep down, he knew she was correct. This world could look towards a brighter future now, one that will be freed from the shackles of the past society without abandoning everything.

 _“Yes… you are the light of dawn for this world. Even if you don’t know what it is that you must do, you are seeking to bring about change in order to benefit the people of this land. I only hope this will be your own path that you have chosen to take, and not that of Claude’s.”_ She stretched out her arms behind her, groaning in the process, then settled down into a more comfortable position from which to listen to him. _“But that is of no matter to our previous conversation. Please continue. I still wish to hear of your exploits. If it is not for the pleasure of hearing you speak, then it is to know what happened to you.”_

Byleth thought for a moment, trying to pick up on where he had left off. “Then I should answer your question... it was the empire’s forces that ended up killing him. He fought off Edelgard and chased after her, only to apparently be cut down by lower soldiers.” He felt pity for the prince, he lost his kingdom and then his life to the war, and all that could be mustered for him was a makeshift burial by Dedue.

Sothis cut in, scanning his thoughts again to pick up on any extra details. _“Dedue survived?”_

“Yes, he even helped us fight Edelgard in Enba-” Before he could finish that sentence, Sothis interrupted him, pushing her hand to cover his mouth.

For all of the good that would do. He indulged her nonetheless, keeping quiet.

_“No, if I am to hear the rest of the story, then by your own admission you must be well rested for when you tell it! Recount the rest of Gronder Field.”_

He waited until she removed her hand, and went back to what he was originally going to say. “Very well then. There is not much left to tell. As we were fighting them, the kingdom and empire were also skirmishing with each other. It wasn’t even our army that chased off Edelgard, from what Claude saw, he said it was Dedue that managed to fend her off as the other two groups I sent to fight merged back into one and proceeded to close in on the remnants of the kingdom and empire. It was their own fighting that left them without enough forces to keep us at bay.” He finished the bulk of the explanation, and yawned.

“Was that enough for you?” He could see Sothis stop to think on that question, and while the look on her face read to him as a no, she nodded nonetheless.

 _“Thank you. I really should let you sleep, shouldn’t I?”_ Her voice, now softer than it had been before, sounded melancholy.

Byleth offered her a soft smile and nodded. “Please do. We might meet in our dreams, and even if we don’t, there’s always tomorrow. We’ll be travelling back to Derdriu, so I can tell you what happened after Gronder on the way.”

She seemed satisfied by that answer, and rolled onto her side to gaze at him as he leaned over to blow out the candle. The room did not darken much, however, as her own aura illuminated it in a soft green light.

Undeterred by her glowing, he lay down on the sheets next to her and allowed his eyes to slide shut.

It was still bright.

His eyes snapped open again and he looked to the miniature verdant sun next to him with an expectant expression, who immediately looked at her hands, then around at the room. _“Oh. My apologies.”_

She disappeared in a brief flash of light that made Byleth shield his eyes, lest her departure be burned into his sight for the next few minutes. After that, he felt the strangely comforting feeling of being watched over, but as comforting as it was, he knew what it meant.

“Go to sleep, Sothis.” A soft huff echoed through his head, and he felt the presence fade away. He then lay down, closing his eyes in the all-encompassing darkness and letting the faint sounds of music and excitement in the distance be his guide to sleep.

From tomorrow onward, he would have to stand to the rest of the world and rebuild this nation. The one thing he was going to need at the very least would be a good night’s sleep.

His mind, now tugged at by the tendrils of sleep in the darkness, was drawn slightly to Sothis, who had left him to sleep. If there was something he perhaps would need more than rest, then it would be the goddess’ blessings.


	3. Wyvern

_1st, Red Wolf Moon, Imperial Year 1186._

It was the first day of his reign.

Today he was to return to Derdriu and assume his place on the new throne there. Not as the ruler of the Leicester Alliance, but as the ruler of Fodlan. Now he curbed the nobles of that former alliance under his rule. Not that he was going to try and impact upon their freedom, but given that they fought to be free of a kingdom once before, it was quite ironic.

“ _They are in for quite the shock when they find that you are not going to favour them in the coming days.”_ Sothis formed across the room from him, then stepped into the light.

The sun was shining, just like it had been the day before. Sunlight from the early morning streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, passing through Sothis’ translucent form and revealing the dust particles in the air that lay suspended even within her body. When it passed out the other side of her, the light was tinged a slight green, like it would had it travelled through a stained glass window.

Sothis looked to her left, down at the pale green strips of light that now lay across the floor, then back up to him. Before he could speak, she asked, “ _Did you sleep well?”_

He nodded and offered her a smile. “I did, thank you for asking.” Next to him, he patted the bed as though to offer her a place. She happily took it, walking out of the direct light and hopping up next to him.

“ _Did you dream of anything?”_ The short goddess grinned, though she did not look at him as she did so, rather, she looked down at her hands that lay across her lap.

“Yes. It was a pleasant dream, I was in a peaceful meadow next to a beach.” As he answered, he noticed the grin widening. She slammed her right fist into the palm of her left hand, making him suspicious. “What did you do?”

“ _Oh, nothing that should worry you. I just… played with your dreams a little! I was trying to get in, but I found I could manipulate it in other ways, so I decided to allow you some peace by making your dreams tranquil.”_ She turned to him, the sharp toothed grin borderline stretched from ear to ear. Had she been physical, he would have embraced her to support her enthusiasm, but she was not, so instead he just grinned back.

To think she could manipulate the direction of his dreams in order to prevent him from suffering from nightmares. “Thank you. I’m glad you are benevolent, then, if you can control my dreams.”

“ _Of course I would be! It would be miserable to torment the one I share my soul with and always be at odds with them as a result. Not to mention that I do not like unnecessary cruelty.”_ She scooted closer to him and ‘rested’ her head against the side of his chest. Sothis hummed gently as she then proceeded to nuzzle her face into the side of his tunic, before looking up at him. “ _Though of course, I would never deliberately hurt you. Tease you and scold you? Maybe-”_

He exhaled sharply at that statement. “Don’t act like you don’t do that a lot.”

Sothis paused in her statement and glared at him.

“ _Fine, tease you and scold you? Yes. I do not do it with intent to harm, but to lighten a mood or teach you a lesson.”_ She looked away, though still remained close to him, letting out a low humming noise.

Byleth just rolled his eyes and held his arm around where her shoulder was, still smiling. “I appreciate your honesty.” She quickly stopped humming and huffed. Jumping off the bed, she hovered above the ground and turned back to him.

“ _Remember what Seteth said. He will send for you unless you are there on time. Don’t you think you should get ready?”_ She floated backwards, over the ornate robes that he had tossed aside the day before before falling asleep, and pointed at them. They’d likely need to be cleaned when he got back to Derdriu judging by the manner in which he had left them, crumpled over the chair in which he had also left his destroyed mercenary garb.

With a groan, Byleth pushed himself off the bed and walked over to them, lifting up the fine white and gold gear and inspecting them for any odd stains or damage. Thankfully, he found none besides a small smudge of brown from the dried mud on the black coat that lay beneath it.

“You know, Sothis, it’s early morning. I don’t think we’re going to be leaving until around midday.” He pulled on the first part of the outfit, the white half-robe that covered his left arm and travelled under his right to join at his waist.

She watched him intently as he robed himself. “ _It is still good to be prepared, also, shouldn’t people be helping you with this?”_ Her hands found themselves ‘holding’ onto his collar as she again inspected it, muttering what were likely criticisms of the strange gear to herself. Byleth just snatched it up and donned the drapes and golden scaled adornments.

“I am not a child, I know how to dress myself.” Next was the belt, which he fastened around his waist before slipping the dagger into its sheath. That left the boots and armoured sections, he put them on.

“ _I am aware, I just thought royalty had their needs tended to by-”_

“I don’t need it.” Pulling himself up from slipping on his boots, Byleth looked into the mirror to check if he looked presentable. His hair, which had grown out ever so slightly stuck out in a few different directions, drawing a snort from Sothis who landed and stood next to him.

It appeared to be that he was not presentable.

He quickly raked his hands through the mess to untangle it, which worked for the most part, for as he patted it down, it looked as it did yesterday.

Sothis, ever helpful as she was, looked behind him. “ _You might need to brush your hair with an appropriate tool.”_ He shook his head, walking over to grab the diadem and hat-crown-thing. He still did not understand the point of that thing’s design.

“I don’t have one. I might bathe before we leave though, since I didn’t have much of a chance to yesterday.”

Sothis nodded. _“While it may seem rude to say this, I don’t think you can get away with cleaning yourself as little as you did when you were a mercenary. The higher classes place a large value on appearance. I will do my best to ensure you hold yourself to that standard.”_

“Thanks, mother.” Byleth managed to draw a short laugh from the goddess at that statement. He took that time to place both pieces of headgear on his head, then reached around for the Sword of the Creator that lay against the wall. Afterwards, he sat down on the bed.

“ _Oh, where would you be without me?”_

Upon bringing the blade up to look over it, his vision was obscured by a green mane which billowed around and through his head. Soon it moved out of sight as its owner acknowledged his slight irritation. He laid the blade of the organic weapon across his knee and delicately ran his hand down its length now that he was acutely aware of its origins.

That of it being the remains of Sothis’ spine.

“Dead.”

A sudden shock rocked his being, then just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.

To his right, he could see Sothis slowly sliding into his vision from the right, a pensive look on her face as she too looked at the sword. _“Very likely… yes. Byleth, I do wonder, if that blade was truly made from my spine, which way around is it? If the point is my neck, then it is indeed possibly that you are holding me by my-”_

“Ack! Sothis! No! Now I feel dirty!” The mercenary-turned-king brought his free hand to his face, mortified at the thought. Sothis just doubled over in laughter, but she quickly recovered and brought her hand to his cheek.

“ _If anyone was going to wield it, I’m at least glad it’s you.”_

Despite their previous topic of conversation, she bore a gentle look on her face that he could easily get lost in. A small smile worked its way there soon after that thought appeared in his mind.

For almost a minute they sat there in silence as he shook off his horror at _just where_ he might have been grabbing her remains, then he decided to break the silence. “We need to go.”

“ _Yes…”_ her smile faded, and she drew back, floating back to the floor almost like a feather would. Byleth stood up after her, and after he strapped the large bone blade to his waist, he approached the door.

Right as he reached it, however, he stopped, an empty sadness suddenly clutching at him. He had to leave. He could not speak to her out there. More sadness. Vigorously shaking his head, he cleared the sudden mental intrusion, then he turned around to find Sothis gone.

Odd. It was obvious that it was her own thoughts bleeding through into his, but she normally was able to control that. “Sothis?” He knelt down to roughly her height and looked around the softly lit room. With a very soft burst of light, she reappeared right in his face and threw her arms around his shoulder, burying her face into his neck.

“What is this about?” He chuckled gently, bringing his arms around her to the best of his ability. He could hear a soft noise of contentment ring forth from her shimmering form.

She did not respond at first, instead she just stood there while hugging him. Byleth was happy to let her stay there for the time being, but if it dragged on for much longer, he’d have to go, for there was likely much to do. That seemed to get her attention, as she wormed her head out from his neck and looked up at him, ears drooped down.

“ _I understand why, but I do not like the fact that you cannot openly speak to me in public without being labelled as insane.”_ She spat those last words, all while rubbing some hints of tiredness from her eyes. She had stayed up again to mess with his dreams, or so it seemed.

He sighed. “I don’t like it either, but people can’t see you. Unless you manage to gain a physical body, I don’t see any way for that to change.” He noticed something in her gaze harden and she slipped through his arms, growling to herself.

“ _Why am I already desiring more? I just came back two days ago. Am I not satisfied with what I already have?”_ Sothis crossed her arms and shook her head, the growl heightening into a borderline snarl. A second later, she threw her arms down, glowering at the ground.

“If you’re constantly feeling my emotions and thoughts then it might be my fault.” Her gaze snapped back to Byleth as he stood up. “I’m still trying to understand and feel a lot of things. Sometimes we just want things that we can’t have, or at least, that’s what I found.”

A ponderous expression settled upon her face when he explained that to her, replacing the frustration. She floated upwards in a sitting position so she was eye level with him.

“ _You desire me to have a physical body?”_

Her look wasn’t scrutinising, rather just curious. Through her eyes she saw the gaps in the curtains where the sun still streamed through, lighting her with a golden hint despite the green reflection she cast on that which passed through her.

With a physical body, that oddly ethereal effect would likely be impossible, but he would sacrifice that rare beauty for a chance to let her experience a life amongst people, their joys and struggles, all of the senses from which she was denied beyond sight and sound. A tangible form for which he could behold her in… yes. He _did_ desire that.

It was something he felt bad for admitting to, but Sothis did not admonish him for being ungrateful for her company or anything of the sort. She just sat there, suspended in mid-air, staring at him with a gaze now unreadable to him.

“You would… you would be able to rule alongside me, beloved by the people as part of the new dawn of Fodlan. You could take back what the Agarthans took from you.” She tilted her head in confusion, and Byleth realised he hadn’t opened up about that part to her. “Don’t worry, I’ll explain it on the flight back to Derdriu.”

Sothis continued to look at him, now suspicious, but decided to drop it so she could understand the full context at a later point. “ _Then we will discuss these matters soon, go! Take care of your business while you can.”_

And just like that, she was gone, with only a few flickering nodes of energy remaining where she had been floating. He could still feel her presence somewhere, like a blanket across his mind, so he at least knew she was watching over him. Not like the vast emptiness that he felt upon her original departure that was often filled in with stray thoughts.

He placed his hand on the Sword of the Creator which glowed warm to the touch, before turning to the door and opening it.

Immediately he was assaulted by an icy cold blast of air. Despite the sunlight beaming down upon them, it was still almost winter, and thus there was a chill in the air. A few doors down stood a knight, who saluted him as he walked past.

As he laid eyes upon the walkways alongside the dorms, he noticed a small amount of debris laying about from the celebrations. Most of it was cleaned, however, as he grew nearer to the fishing pond and greenhouse where there were a few workers from the church busy at work trying to clean it up before the others woke up. They froze as Byleth passed by.

He paid them no heed so as to not distract or frighten them with his presence, instead opting to head up to the dining hall to see if it was even open at this point. While the doors were open, he could not see anyone working in the large room, so he retreated back to the fishing pond, heading towards the market area. 

Even in the bitter cold of the morning, there were a few merchants out setting up their stalls. Some regarded him with curiosity or shock at him coming near them, though like the cleaners taking care of any remnants from the party from the night before, he mostly ignored them in order to not cause much of a stir. There was a place he needed to go before he did anything else that morning. 

So into the entrance hall he went, and navigated his way to the stables. The lack of people at the monastery even at this time in the morning was a little jarring, for he was normally used to people travelling in and out in large numbers as they attended their business. 

The ceremony had thrown things into a loop, it seemed. 

Before he reached his location, Byleth looked up. The sunrise had painted the sky all manners of blues, reds and golds. He could see some men standing on the walls that protected the great building, those that had been repaired during his time there in the war. 

Soon, he felt his boots transition from clicking off the stone pathway to crunching against the cold soils of the stable area, and he rounded the corner only to find Marianne standing there, tending to the horse that he assumed was Dorte. She didn’t seem to notice him at first, standing there and soothingly speaking to the steed as she brushed down its mane with a comb. 

While he did not want to distract her from her business, as he looked around, he found that the stable hands hadn’t arrived yet. That meant she was the only one around here that probably had access to where his own mount was being held. 

So he approached her. His footsteps first alerted the horse to his presence, and it snorted at him. Marianne faltered in her grooming, and asked it as she went to look in his direction, “What is it- oh!” 

Maybe he had gotten a little too close too fast, for the poor woman almost jumped out of her skin when she saw him looming behind her. She caught herself on the saddle of the horse, and shook her head. “Ah… your highness-” 

“Please just call me Byleth, we know each other, Marianne. I probably should tell that to the others when we next meet up, come to think of it.” He motioned for her to continue, but Marianne stood there awkwardly, brush in hand, taken aback by his quick dismissal of the title. 

“Yes… I didn’t expect to see you here. Is something the matter?” She walked over to a stool near the stall door of the horse she was taking care of, and placed the brush on it, then looked to him, giving him her full attention. 

He shook his head. “I’m sorry that I scared you. By any chance do you know how to get into the wyvern and pegasus roosts? I’m going to be flying to Derdriu later today, so I need to sort out which wyvern I’m going to be flying and remember how to control them.” 

Marianne paused for a moment and thought about his question. “I’m afraid that I do not have the keys to get in. I believe Ingrid may have one, as I have seen her go in to take care of her pegasus.” He could see her continue to try and find a solution, but that was enough for him. He probably would just have to wait until either Ingrid or a stable hand showed up. 

“I can wait, don’t worry about it.” She looked back up at him, then nodded gratefully, placing one hand on the horse’s side. Byleth looked to it, then to the comb. He heard Sothis’ words echo in his mind. 

“ _You might need to brush your hair with an appropriate tool.”_

Obviously she did not mean one meant for a horse, but the thought made him smile nonetheless. Marianne followed his gaze, and when she saw what he was looking at, she picked it up and brought it back to her horse where she resumed her previous activities. 

“If you don’t mind me asking—” she stopped and looked back at him. “—No, keep going. What has brought you out here so early? From what I’ve seen, relatively few people are awake at this hour.” 

“It’s peaceful.” She calmly continued to comb through the horse’s mane, undoing a few tangles from the day before. “Dorte likes it that way, don’t you?” She stroked her hand along the snout of the horse in a gentle manner, which prompted it to crane its neck and look at her. So that _was_ Dorte. 

Byleth didn’t have much of a response to that, it was a fair reason. “Alright then, I guess I’ll wait around until someone comes by to unlock the doors. Don’t let me being here interrupt you.” He turned on the spot, the cape on his outfit flowing out behind him, and walked away from Marianne and the main area of the stables towards the entrance, where he leaned against the wall. 

Deep in his mind he felt a poking sensation, and then Sothis let herself back in. “ _That went well.”_ That really depended on how one defined ‘well’. He still couldn’t get into the roost area, so now he had to wait for entry. 

“ _Ah, you simply have to wait. Maybe you could have circumvented this by asking for a set of keys in the days or weeks before this event, but that is in the past. I will stay with you for now.”_ There was a flash, and Sothis popped back into existence, right next to him. Her small frame reclined against his shoulder, and he sighed. 

She didn’t say anything more, and the two stood there in companionable silence, listening to the sounds of the birds in the nearby gardens as they rummaged around in the early morning light. Gradually, they saw the monastery begin to wake up. The knights who were heading to the stables passed him, each waving as they walked by. 

It was then he realised something. There was a knight who lingered off in the distance who looked a lot like the one he saw when he left his room. He had been followed. 

He understood it was for his protection, but it still bothered him slightly, for he was not used to being tailed around like this. Sothis looked at the man and shrugged. “ _They do say, it is better to be safe than it is to be sorry.”_

He could only sigh in response to that. She was correct. Perhaps with the awakening of the knights, it would mean that the dining hall would be open, so he could go grab something to eat. 

Though he was slightly hungry, Byleth decided to put off the visit until he could be sure he wasn’t just about to walk into an empty room again. 

And so they waited even longer. Soon, the other workers, such as gardeners began to show up. Some people that he could only assume to be stable hands walked past him, regarding the new king with slight awe. Seeing that as his opportunity, he went back in. The knights had taken up much of the empty area where Marianne once was. He now saw her off on the other end of the grounds, still with Dorte, though now she just watched the other knights work with their horses. 

He passed by a group, with one quite frankly young knight trying desperately to get on to a massive stallion. The horse itself wasn’t doing much to prevent him from doing so, but it was clear the young man was struggling to get on properly. Eventually he fell, prompting a chuckle from both Byleth and the knights who went to help him back up again and showed him the proper way to mount it. 

The former main healer of his army saw him approach, and shot to her feet. “I told one of the Falcon Knights a few minutes ago. She unlocked the doors, so you should be able to go inside now.” 

He had been about to wave at her and ask about the situation, but seeing as how she had surprisingly taken the initiative on his behalf already, he lowered his hand and smiled instead. “Oh! Well, thank you for that. I’ll probably see you again before I leave, but in case I do not, I do hope things go well for you with Margrave Edmund, Marianne, and I look forward to seeing you in my court when that day comes.” 

“Thank you very much.” Marianne offered one of her rare smiles, bowing her head to him. Byleth made to go over to the entrance of the building where the flying mounts were kept, but he was stopped when she called out to him. “Wait! Before we both leave Garreg Mach, I want you to know something…” 

“Oh?” He pivoted around once more.

“Thank you… Thank you for helping me, even if I had no desire to live on. Thanks to you and everyone else in my class, I was able to learn about my Crest. I can now live. My adoptive father has decided to put our talks about marriage on hold for now, so I’m going to use that time wisely.” 

Byleth, not foreign to these odd displays of gratitude as of late, nodded. “Make the most of it. Marianne, this goes for everyone, but if you are ever in need of help, just send for me. I will do what I can to help.” 

She bowed low and backed away, ending their conversation as she returned to Dorte’s side. Byleth entered the building, surrounded by stalls inhabited by a multitude of horses used for the paladins and knights that made up the cavalry units of the Knights of Seiros. 

Behind him, he noticed the knight that had been stationed outside of his room enter, and so he called back to him. “If you are going to follow me, do so close to my side.” 

“Right then, sir.” The knight approached Byleth and followed closely as the king wandered around the large building, eventually finding a spiralling staircase that marked the entrance to the upper floors. Each step on the wooden stairs let out a creaking noise, which was only made worse by the heavily armoured guard following him. Despite that, he persevered, knowing they would hold. 

At the top, he could hear the chattering noises of wyverns as they awoke, alongside the fluttering of wings. He was greeted by a large iron barred door at the top, stretching up to the roof. Byleth pressed down on the latch for the door, and it opened slowly, brushing against the stone floors. 

The roost area was not one he often visited, being a swordsman that rarely made use of any aerial tactics. That was a job he mostly left to Claude to manage on the battlefield, guiding others like Petra and Ingrid around to flank opponents and provide openings on the backs of their wyverns and pegasi. 

Some wyverns thankfully stayed in Fodlan past their usual migratory date, those normally those were the ones bonded with riders. While he hoped that the one he was searching for had remained, given the circumstances of the war, he knew it was possible for them to have left. 

“ _I’m sure she will have remained. You did say Claude took ownership of her?”_ While Sothis did make a good point, he was also afraid of their departure for that very same reason. She may have left in search of him after the war ended. 

On each side of the large hall lay a number of larger stall structures. Unlike the lower floor which had many rows of stalls locked together, each housing a single horse, these were more open to the air. Small groups of the two kinds of beasts huddled together in their respective places, although some wyverns appeared to be roosting alone. 

Upon closer inspection, he noticed them to be resting atop small bundles of hay and feathers from the pegasi. Nests were padded with soft materials, protecting the eggs held within from the weight of their mothers bearing down upon them. 

Byleth practically ignored the right hand side of the room filled with pegasi in favour of scanning the wall covered from top to bottom in wyverns for any hint of the slate scaled beast that he once was able to ride. Most of them were covered in ruddy brown scales, which at least made it easier to try and pick out his. 

Unfortunately, those that did differ from the norm were often just lighter, sandy browns or darker colours that were certainly not the sleek greys that he was in search of. So instead of gazing to the walls, he decided to look on the ground where some of the wyverns rested in cubicles. 

Like before, he couldn’t make anything out in the large masses of winding bodies, until he heard Sothis call out to him from a different point in the room. ” _Byleth, is this the one?”_ He spun on the spot to look at where her voice had come from, finding the goddess reclining over one of the wyverns that sat on the floor next to the open exit to the roost. He recognised those colours. Sothis smiled, then promptly vanished. 

As he approached it, the draconic beast turned its head around and stared at him. Those bright yellow eyes of hers bored into his own, searching, feeling his resolve as he pressed forward. “It has been a long time, hasn’t it-” When he got into range of touching the beast, she suddenly reared up, flaring out her massive, leathery wings as she let out an ear splitting shriek. 

Byleth paused, though he stood his ground as the knight nearby laid a hand on his weapon. Nearby wyverns scattered away towards the back end of the room, their frantic flapping and clicking cries creating a cacophony of noise for the next minute or so as he just pressed on, with the ash coloured wyvern stepping backwards while still trying to keep up its imposing act. 

“Are you sure about this?” The knight went to step forward, but Byleth passed his hand back to make him stop. The more the wyvern backed up against the wall, the more vicious her snarls and snapping motions were. He could tell that she was not actually aiming for him, however, rather she was alternating between each side of his hand, her jaws closing around the thin air. 

Soon he was back in range of her, and with one swift movement, he planted his hand on her snout. The effect was immediate, with the beast freezing up and snorting. He brought his other hand under her chin and gave it a gentle scratch. 

“As I was saying, it has been a long time, Cinder.” 

The poor knight, who stood dumbstruck, was probably not versed in the ways of wyverns, with their initial tests of resolve before they would even let a prospective rider touch them. The fierce display was a way of weeding out the weaker willed individuals, unlike a pegasus, who often focused on the heart of their rider. 

“ _Or their sex.”_ Sothis quipped. The wyvern, now much more relaxed than she had been, brought her head close to his, and let out a puff of warm air right into his face. He smiled and ran his gloved hands along the scaly ridges of her neck, then resumed his petting of her head as he guided her away from the wall. 

The wyvern, sniffing at his robes, was the one that he originally had used when learning to fight on the back of a flying beast, all the way back in his academy days. The last time he had remembered seeing her was before Claude was gifted his white wyvern from Almyra. 

And thus, poor Cinder was left in the care of the knights without a proper rider. 

That was now to change. Although he did not intend to use her as a war mount, he needed one to travel around Fodlan, and seeing as she already knew and trusted him to an extent, she was perfect for that job.

“If you can, please alert Seteth that I’d like to have this be my assigned wyvern.” Next to him, Cinder suddenly sat back down and nudged his hand with her head, warbling.

The knight looked to it, then lowered his head to Byleth.

“Shall I pass it on to one of the other knights so I may remain to guard you, or do you wish for me to deliver this message personally?”

Byleth thought of his answer, the latter was probably the best option, both for his own personal interests of not wishing to be surveyed constantly, and to prevent the message from being muddled across messengers. “Deliver it yourself, don’t worry about me, I can handle myself on the rare instance that something does happen.”

There was some hesitation from the knight as he turned to leave, drawing a snort from the wyvern now trying to force her head into his hands. Unfortunately for her, Byleth’s stomach growled at the same time. He could stay and continue to reacquaint himself with the beast,, but the hunger that was slowly beginning to gnaw at him was growing distracting.

If the placement of the sun in the sky was any indicator, he was sure that the dining hall _should_ be open at this time. Maybe there would be something that he could pass through and quickly grab to avoid drawing too much attention to himself.

Cinder repeatedly kept butting her head into his side to get his attention, so he obliged her for just a moment by bringing his hand behind her two deer-like horns and scratching to relieve her of any hard to reach itches that she may or may not have had. The deep warbling noise persisted, and soon more wyverns began to return to the area around them.

He could see a few of them eyeing him up. One of their own had accepted him, so to them, he must be a strong willed and probably a worthy individual. Amongst those that returned to their end of the roost, a few wandered over to him and began to sniff at his feet. He heard Sothis’ laughter echo from behind him.

“ _It appears you should have left while you had the chance.”_

Suddenly he was knocked forward by a force pressing against his back. He turned on the spot to see that even behind him from the walls, wyverns had come over to investigate and get attention. He was boxed in by the large, scaly beasts.

And all of them wanted to be petted and caressed.

Byleth sighed. The reddish-brown wyvern that had pushed him forward once again repeated the action and pressed its head into his chest, which only served to push him up against another one of the knights' mounts.

Despite the odd situation, Byleth couldn’t help but laugh at the creatures’ oddly affectionate behaviour. He petted the side of the large wyvern that was currently shoving him, earning him some reprieve as it leaned into his hand as opposed to the rest of his body. Although he wouldn’t mind spending time with them, he had to leave soon, and there were a few things he had to sort out.

“Everyone, I must thank you for the warm welcome, but I really should be going-” Just as he was saying that, he saw Ingrid and Ashe barge forth into the vast chamber.

“Your highness, are you… alright?” When Ingrid’s eyes fell upon him surrounded by wyverns, all of them chittering and grumbling while vying for his attention, she sighed. Byleth smiled and waved at her, only to have his raised hand be knocked into by a smaller green wyvern, probably thinking he was going to reach out for them.

With a bit of force, Byleth pushed his way out from the centre of his scaly entourage and stepped over their tails, before making his way over to the pair.

“See, Ingrid? There’s nothing to worry about. I remember something like that happening when I was training a wyvern to accept me- oh. Firen, no!” Byleth turned around to see what Ashe was calling out to. He found that he was now being followed by the six or so wyverns that decided to box him in. The small, dark green wyvern from before perked up at its name being called and looked past Byleth to the archer.

“Leave the king alone!” Immediately Byleth felt the air blast against him as the beast rushed over to greet Ashe, knocking the young man from his feet and onto its head and neck. At this, most of Byleth’s new following moved over to Ashe who fell from the neck of his own mount and onto the ground.

Ingrid distanced herself from this new event, a tight, yet worried smile on her face as the knight backed herself towards the pegasi section of the room.

It was a sight to see as Ashe was engulfed by the overly friendly beasts, laying down next to him and resting their heads on his limbs before he could get back up. The silver haired archer called out for Ingrid for assistance, who at this point was drawing her pegasus out from its place amongst a small huddle of its kind while calling back reassurances to him that she would help once she was done.

“ _You are hungry, are you not? Go, quickly! They are distracted!”_ Sothis cut through his amusement at the situation, and he found that more wyverns were beginning to circle around poor Ashe. Trying not to draw attention to himself, Byleth sneaked around the perimeter of the pile. Once he was on the other side, he took off towards the iron door.

Behind him Byleth could hear the thudding of feet, which only spurred him on as he threw himself through the door and slammed it shut. To his surprise, Cinder had been the only one who followed him, pressing her head against the door gently in an attempt to open it.

The poor thing probably didn’t have much in the way of contact since Claude managed to get his white wyvern over the border.

“I’ll be back soon enough. I need to eat.” Cinder, as though she understood at least some of that, shuffled away from the door and went to partake in Ashe’s containment. He turned the latch on the door and walked back down the stairs, listening to the protests and laughter of the archer. 

_“Were you not going to bathe?”_ Sothis floated upside down overhead, a grin playing upon her face.

Byleth frowned and looked straight up at her as he was walking down the stairs. Quietly, he commented. “Down goddess.” Her grin widened and she laughed, flying down to linger in front of him.

“ _You act as though I have not seen you in such a position before. What of the night before your coronation? I told you to wash the blood off. Normally I would shut myself out of your conscience, but given our situation I saw fit to stay.”_ Her tone then suddenly darkened. “ _I did not know you bore so many scars. I knew you were a fighter, but really, you must be more careful.”_

Byleth stopped and felt his face heat up. Though a spying little goddess she was, he could feel an echoing sadness throughout his being. It wasn’t exactly nice when mixed with his own emotions. Immediately it was retracted, and he just felt the embarrassment of being watched while he bathed.

Sothis righted herself and shook her head. “ _I apologise, I need to control that better.”_

Now that it was gone, the fact that she accidentally let it through did not bother him, but she probably needed to know those scars she was referring to were likely attained by him before he was able to make use of the Divine Pulse- 

“ _Do not try to deceive me, there were some that were notably fresher than those that I would consider old scars. Or did you forget that you slept in a chasm for five years without agitating those old wounds?”_ She crossed her arms, pouting at him. 

He did say they were _likely_ attained by him at a young age, not that they certainly were. Sothis grumbled and disappeared in a flash of light. 

“ _Go acquire food, it’s gnawing at me as well.”_

Byleth had already started back down the stairs by the time she had finished that sentence. 

___________________________________________________ 

“ _...That’s not very much, especially for you.”_ Sothis looked down at the small bundle of jerky that Byleth had grabbed from the dining hall and still held in his hand. He refrained from commenting, instead just sitting there while happily chewing on one of the strips. 

“ _Really, what happened to the five-to-six meals a day that rivalled Raphael? You’re going to be travelling later, you may not get a chance to eat when you get to Derdriu. Grab something else.”_ It was likely an 8 or so hour flight between Garreg Mach and Derdriu based on the past times they had travelled. If they left early enough, everything should be fine. He would arrive in time for some kind of meal, even if it was meagre.

Sothis, as it turned out, was not having that, so she ‘slammed’ her fist into the table. “ _At least grab something for the flight, you fool! I do not want to hear your body’s complaints when we are travelling! Unlike me, you can’t block your feelings, so I constantly experience them as you do!”_

Well, when she put it like that, maybe it was just nice of him to try and avoid negative feelings for her sake, hunger included. Sothis’ anger deflated, and she sank back down, perching on the chair in front of him to look around at the various meals other people were having for the morning.

In his mouth, the hardened piece of meat finally snapped in two, and he swallowed the smaller chunk. As a mercenary, he wasn’t much of a fan of jerky, but whatever the monastery did with it at least made it taste like salted meat and not old boot leather.

“ _How do you know what that even tastes like?”_ Sothis flicked her ear and turned her attention back to him.

Byleth, still chewing on the food, just simply stated. “I licked a boot.”

A bewildered Sothis just stared at him in utter confusion. “ _Why? Why would you lick someone’s boot? Had you no pride?”_

He just shrugged. Thankfully his voice seemed to be drowned out by the rest of the room, so he continued. “I was young. Didn’t know what a bootlicker was. Just saw one once and wondered, ‘hey, I wonder what that tastes like.’ Turns out it just tasted like glue, dirt and salt. I personally don’t recommend it.”

Sothis closed her eyes and sighed, though he saw her smiling. “ _Oh, sweet curiosity. Did Jeralt ever find out, I wonder?”_

The mention of Jeralt brought Byleth to a stop for a moment as he looked at one of the sticks in his hand, old pains resurfacing. He felt Sothis’ regretful look upon him without even seeing her face. When he did look up, she was looking away from him, as mournful as he was.

Despite that, he would answer her question. There was no malicious intent, so she deserved it.

“I don’t believe anyone ever learned of it. Good thing too, knowing what that means now, he’d probably have had a good sit down to explain to me just what was wrong with doing that. Now I can just sit here and occasionally remember it, and feel shame for how idiotic I was.” He continued chewing on what was in his mouth, even although it was now beginning to separate into several pieces.

The goddess sighed and laid her head on the table, eyes slowly moving back to him with a solemn expression. “ _You were not idiotic, you were a child.”_

Byleth stared blankly back at her. “Sothis, I appreciate your attempts to make me feel better about that, but children do have the capacity to be idiots.”

“ _But that is how you learn. You make mistakes, then you grow from them! Have you licked a boot since then?”_ She perked up and pointed at him, her gaze intense and her demeanour completely changing as if on a switch. The speed with which she had jumped up to her feet on that chair left her appearing as little more than a blue and green blur.

Now it was his turn to be bewildered. “No?”

“ _Then my point is made.”_ She hopped back down, looking at him with a smug expression on her face. Due to her body’s nature, her controlled impact upon the wooden chair beneath her made no sound.

“You call me a fool so often that I forget it’s okay to make mistakes.” He stuck another piece of jerky in his mouth and began to chew, doing a quick scan of the room to make sure nobody had noticed him talking. While nobody was actively looking at him, as he glanced at Leonie sitting with Raphael and Bernadetta of all people at a table across the room from him, she caught his eye and started to wave.

As she did so, Sothis hummed and lowered her head back down to the table. “ _Hm, I do apologise for my sharp tongue. I am trying to ensure that you do not suffer the full consequences of your mistakes, but still learn from them. Like now when I told you to go get more to eat so you do not suffer from hunger later.”_

“Duly noted and appreciated.” He deadpanned, waving back at Leonie. Immediately she turned back to her little group and started talking animatedly.

“ _Byleth, do you wish for me to stop?”_ Sothis shoved herself across the table to him, reaching her hands up to hold his face. Byleth turned to look down at her, her body completely engulfing his drink and plate which held nothing on it.

He planted one hand firmly on the top of her head, or at least, where it was to his eyes. “Not really, you do right by me, and it’s part of your charm.” Seeing her ears turn scarlet at his comment actually brought a quiet laugh out of him. “Sorry, I’m aware that my voice can sometimes contradict my actual feelings. Surely you of all people should know that by now, though?”

“ _Yes, I do know that. Forgive me, I just feel… off. I wasn’t sure if it was you or me causing it, given our discussion earlier.”_ She sighed, her face and ears returning to their normal colour as she moved her hands from his face to his shoulders, and ‘pulled’ herself closer so she could rest her head on his torso.

Byleth would have loved to at least respond to her, but he felt a presence suddenly linger behind him, and after turning around he was faced with Bernadetta staring at him. He could tell she was nervous, but not to any extent that she would have been had she come face to face with anyone else.

“Um, is it okay if we can sit here, your… highness?” He sighed at the newfound wariness that his title brought. She had been doing so well, even being able to openly speak with him before.

“Of course you can.” Sothis grumbled something that he couldn’t discern. “Also, Bernadetta, unless we’re in formal discussions, please just refer to me as Byleth. ‘Your highness’ and ‘your majesty’ are unnecessary to me otherwise.”

She noticeably relaxed at the realisation he wasn’t going to start acting above everyone, and sat down next to him. Suddenly two figures appeared at his other side, dropping down in the chairs with a thump. So that was what she meant by ‘we’. Raphael placed down the large assortment of meals he had taken from the desk and looked at the handful of jerky Byleth held.

Byleth looked back up at him, half of one sticking out of his mouth. “What.”

“Profes- ow!” Leonie jabbed him in the side, “Your majes-”

“Byleth.” Both he and Bernadetta said in unison, causing him to look at them with a surprised expression.

“Well, uh, Byleth!” Byleth saw a knight cast them a confused look from the door. “Are you sure that’s enough? Nowadays I’d keep my mouth shut if I thought someone was eating too little, but you normally eat almost as much as me! What’s up with that?”

“ _I told you!”_ Sothis called out, and rolled over so the back of her head was now resting against him. Byleth just shrugged and continued chewing.

It wasn’t long before a plate was slid across from Raphael’s platter, right through Sothis, filled with kebabs. Deep within, he felt his stomach growl. The jerky within his mouth snapped and he glanced back at Raphael.

The muscle-bound man looked rather concerned. “Aren’t you going to be flying? Surely you’ll need something to keep yourself from starving when travelling.”

Sothis piped up. “ _I take back what I said yesterday about your students using you. I do like him.”_

Byleth sighed at her and placed his jerky down. That would be the snack for the road that he had been talking about beforehand. Picking up the meat skewer, he was about to take a bite before he noticed the knight again firing them looks of concern.

Ah, yes, he did not have a food taster, for poison, of course.

As if Raphael of all people would be trying to hurt him, though. He sank his teeth into it without a care in the world, and then again, enjoying the taste of the properly prepared meal. Raphael, now satisfied, turned back to the large helping he took for himself and got stuck in.

On either side, he saw both Leonie and Bernadetta join him with their own dishes, though the former was more enthusiastic about it. Byleth just kept reaching through Sothis’ translucent body and picking up each of the meat skewers as he finished them. Sothis didn’t seem to care as she shut her eyes and just listened to the noises of the room around them.

Next to him, the two more boisterous individuals began to talk about what they were going to do after they left Garreg Mach, talks of adventures and travelling unlike which he would be able to experience again. Suddenly, Raphael set down the large drumstick which he had previously been eating as Leonie talked.

“Hey, Byleth, by any chance would you take me on as a knight?” The question came out of the blue, although Byleth was aware of Raphael’s aspirations to become a knight. He had just been talking about fighting monsters and going to all corners of Fodlan, and now he wanted to settle for staying around Derdriu?

Odd, but if it meant he would have one more familiar face around, Byleth didn’t really care for his reasoning. “Sure? I might need to get my affairs sorted out first before I go around knighting people and promoting others, so it might take a few months. I’d recommend you travel around until then.”

“I’m happy to stick around until you’re ready, as long as you’re fine with my sister coming to Derdriu.” Why would he care if his sister came to stay? They might have to find their own residence, but it wasn’t as though he would just sit there and say no to them. He wasn’t that cruel.

Byleth shrugged. “Do what you will, it’s not my job to approve of every decision you make. I’m a king, not a puppet master.” He put the skewer down and grabbed the small metal chalice filled with water and drank it, still trying to ignore the green fluffy lump laying over the top of his dishes.

“I’m going to start a mercenary band.” He expected that answer from Leonie, and thankfully she did not press him for permission after hearing his response to Raphael. Said man then looked over to Bernadetta suddenly.

“Say, Bernadetta! What are you going to do?” She visibly flinched and looked up at him, holding a spoonful of soup up to her mouth.

Quickly she blew on it a few times and then sipped it, placing the spoon back into the bowl before responding in a low voice. “I’m going back to govern my family’s lands, since my father has been seen as unfit for rule due to the strain of his house arrest.”

“He’s still alive?” Byleth pondered, picking up the skewer he had been working on and staring at it.

Bernadetta looked at him in a confused manner. “Uhm, yes. Why?”

Byleth bit into the skewer suddenly, then swallowed the meat. “Haven’t heard about him for a while. I thought he died when the Empire stripped so many of its nobles from power. Don’t mind my question.”

“ _Obtuse as a hammer, my dear.”_ Byleth quickly exhaled through his nose, maybe that was too blunt of a question. Bernadetta didn’t seem too disturbed by it, however, as she just went back to her soup.

A silence lingered over the group for perhaps a minute, before Leonie started conversing with Raphael again. Byleth just kept eating. He had spent enough time here.

Out of the four, he was the first to finish due to the others just eating slower than he or being distracted by conversation, and as such, he pushed out his chair and took the plate and bundle of jerky with him. “I do hate to go, but I have other things I must attend to before I leave the monastery at noon.”

“Oh, alright… please be careful.” Leonie wished him a fond farewell, and the other two nodded and waved to him as he left to go hand the plate back in. The woman tending to the counter graciously accepted it, and he backed off, turning to head to the sauna.

Thankfully he did not encounter any more of his students, and made it to the building without error. There was one peculiarity, however.

Nobody was inside.

“ _You have this place all to yourself! Lock the door and we can lounge until our heart’s content!”_ Sothis shot in past him, looking around the large wooden room. Byleth contained himself, however, and shook his head.

“It’ll take too long to heat up and we don’t have the time. I’ll need to find a proper bath somewhere else, although it’s looking as though I’m going to have to wait until tonight.” He could see Sothis’ excitement deflate as she lowered herself to the ground.

“ _Phooey.”_ She flashed out, back into his mind. While he had washed off the grime of his fight from the night before the coronation, he still didn’t feel very presentable.

He could just go ask Seteth, who would have one run for him, but the real question was did he have time?

“ _If you do not ask, you will not find an answer. Go!”_

While Byleth did occasionally take issue with Sothis butting in to state the obvious, he couldn’t complain that she didn’t at least motivate him.

___________________________________________________

“ _That was… a lot easier than it usually is.”_

Once he had found the archbishop in his chambers, it hadn’t taken long to find a place to bathe, that place being the chamber bathroom. As it turned out, the saunas had been shut down temporarily due to the coronation. Just his luck.

That said, when he had actually figured out how to make the bath work, it had shocked both he and Sothis as to just how quickly they were able to get in and out.

“How the upper half live.” Byleth sighed to Sothis, sliding his boots on. “The rest of us heat our water in the sauna, they get others to heat it for them before they even need it.”

She exhaled while floating next to him. _“You say that like you hold resentment for it, yet you now stand at the top of humanity. All of this and more await.”_ Her words resulted in a wave of anxiety suddenly hitting him, which was odd given that most other interactions involving his new title didn’t impact him as much.

Her words were true, though, he had access to every luxury he would need, but he was still the king. Standing around Garreg Mach talking to her and his students was not what his actual life would be like from now on.

Where one saw lavish living spaces, rich food and people to wait on them, Byleth saw a great responsibility, restricted freedom, and danger.

But he also saw the goddess’ hand gently place itself on his shoulder. _“Relax yourself, it would not do well to see your station as a burden before you have even started. I understand that I may have germinated the seeds of doubt that were in your mind, but think of it as a way to make the positive change that you want to see in the world… if you even believe in that change.”_

The positive change that he wanted to see… what Claude had spoken to him of all those months ago. He saw Sothis’ brow furrow at that, but he continued with his train of thought regardless. A world where people of all walks could stand together, Fodlan, Almyra, Brigid, Dagda, Morfis, Duscur and Sreng… even Sothis herself could be a part of that.

“I just need to build camaraderie amongst the people, then things should be able to get moving. We start by fixing the food shortages caused by the war.” Next to him, Sothis was nodding slowly.

“ _It is not your responsibility alone. Your students, at least as far as I can see now, are still willing to help you. They can inspire their people to grow together.”_

He pulled the other boot on. “I know, but I’m supposed to be the one to take charge, aren’t I? I’m their king.”

“ _Yes, but Byleth, if you overextend yourself trying to manage every little detail of yours and Claude’s utopia, you will inevitably break down. I, most of all, would not want to see that happen.”_ Her hand moved to his cheek now, so he turned to look at her head on. _“You co-ordinate what they should do. I know you were meticulous in combat with them, but this is a battlefield no longer. I will admit that I have had a change of heart since yesterday morning, trust those we have spoken to today. I can sense their hearts are still pure.”_

Her now gentle voice and softened facial features slowly began to wear him down, along with the encroaching feeling of… hope. With it, Byleth found himself smiling despite his outlook.

“ _You look better now that you’ve had that bath, some of that parading from yesterday kicked up dirt onto you, and look, your hair is much less tangled up!”_ Sothis’ features perked up when he smiled, and the hope was now interspersed with relief and contentment.

He knew it wasn’t his own emotions, he knew it was Sothis just using their own special method of communication, but damn it, he didn’t care. It felt nice to feel like this. With a bit of mirth, he ran his hands through his still wet hair.

“Didn’t even need a comb like you suggested.”

She snorted and floated away from where they were sitting in the bathroom. _“Ever resourceful Byleth, using his fingers to brush his hair. Call me enamoured.”_ Her sarcastic comment was not mirrored by her face as she smiled. With a kick, she disappeared through the door frame. _“Come along now! We’ve spent enough time in this monastery! They said they’d be waiting for you by the stables.”_

It was true. Upon arriving at Seteth’s chambers, the new archbishop had updated him on the departure plans. Considering the distance they had to cover, it would be best to leave as soon as possible to ensure they would reach Derdriu by dusk, and that was going to be by pushing the wyverns and pegasi at their highest speeds.

“ _No more dallying, Byleth!”_ Her head suddenly popped through the tiled wall, right as Byleth was reaching for his gloves. She watched as he pulled on each remaining section of his regalia, then finally the diadem.

Her little grin worked its way back onto her face, and with a slow movement, she phased back through the wall. Byleth, being corporeal, had to go through the door. What he found was the goddess looking over some notes on Seteth’s desk.

“ _These look like letters, some are scored out, look.”_ Her dainty hand pointed to one that even from a distance, Byleth could tell was covered in scratches of black ink. _“It looks like he can not find his words.”_

“Are you suggesting we do something about it?” Unlike Sothis who was floating directly over the small pile of pages, Byleth kept his distance. It wasn’t exactly his business to read over the personal documents of the church’s former retainer, after all, there was a slight different from prodding a student to help them overcome a challenge and a flat out invasion of privacy.

At that, Sothis’ body twisted mid-air to look at him, her expression obscured by the hair that suddenly shifted in accordance with her movements. _“Well, knowing your thoughts on the matter, not now.”_

The former mercenary said nothing and just walked towards the exit. “Then we’re settled.” He gestured his hand for her to follow. Like always, she did so, although this time instead of disappearing at the door, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

Byleth didn’t really mind, her presence was relaxing after all. He could see her from the corner of his eyes, laying her head down on the white and gold fabric that covered his shoulder.

Too bad the collar mostly obscured her.

The doors that marked the entrance to the archbishop’s quarters were much heavier than those at the dormitories. In fact, it took Byleth putting his weight against them to get any movement at all. By the time he was outside, the two knights flanking the doors gave him an odd look.

“ _They may have heard you.”_ Slight concern bit at Byleth at that conclusion. It wasn’t like he said anything in the study that gave away who he was talking to. He paused in his tracks, staring at one of the knights all the while.

Sothis slipped around his body to look at him beyond the confines of the collar. _“Oh, well don’t stand there like that! If they did hear, you want to act calm! You are just ogling him!”_ He blinked once then tore his gaze away from the individual who now stared directly back at him. As quickly as he could manage without being seen as even stranger, Byleth strode away, heading down the steps of a nearby staircase.

In his bid to escape, he had walked through Sothis. In response she turned around and flew after him. _“Well…”_ she began, _“I do suppose you ‘re heading to Derdriu.”_

As soon as Byleth could tell he was out of range of the guards, he whispered back. “What does that have to do with what happened back there?”

 _“Oh, nothing.”_ A smile illuminated her face. _“I am just excited to see what beautiful landscapes await.”_

Byleth looked at her in surprise. He never knew scenic views were something she would get excited about. Garreg Mach was full of them and yet she never really made comments on such things. She scoffed.

_“I have my own interests, it just so happens that sightseeing is among them.”_

“Well.” He stopped in his tracks, then whispered to her again. “I suppose you won’t find what’s there if I hang around here, now will you?”

 _“No, I will not! Now move!”_ The smile that had been brought to her face was still there despite the imperative tone of her words, but ever so faintly, Byleth could see her face tinted red. Was she flustered?

Her face now clearly went red. _“No.”_

What a blatant lie. Just because he couldn’t read her thoughts without her sharing them didn’t mean he couldn’t see that her face was betraying her.

“I mean, you never tell me your interests, surely you must like some-”

_“Byleth, we would probably be safer discussing this when the wind can carry away your voice. I can always tell what you’re saying, even when you’re silent.”_

That fair point, he guessed. The question of what she would do as a pastime did intrigue him, however, perhaps he could add them into his schedule so she could do more than just hang around him as he went about his-

 _“Go! I will tell you as we fly!”_ Her voice was suddenly much harsher, which made him jump and look at her.

Sothis gazed at him with a look of exasperation and what was now slight annoyance. It seemed like he had used up her patience in teasing and prodding her for information. No matter his curiosity, he had no intention of actually upsetting his little partner. Byleth’s hand tightened on the banister, and he continued down the stairs, uttering two words.

“Yes, goddess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me long enough. This is the first half of what I had written for Chapter 3, it was too long to post as one part. Honestly, most of this was already done for the longest time, I just hit a massive roadblock.
> 
> I hope you all had a good Christmas. I won't be continuing writing until the 8th January due to coursework. Just know that this fic is practically fully plotted out. I've had fun doing so, and hopefully the writing portion is as fun, although I doubt that it actually will be. Writing's fun, then you hit a brick wall. 'Tis just the nature of things.
> 
> Check my profile, it generally will give a teaser for the next chapter. Not an actual snippet, just a little joke relating to the contents. My FFN account, TwilightZotza, gives a rough percentage on how close the chapter is to completion. Why don't I do it here as well? Well, gotta have some console exclusive content.
> 
> Btw please comment on your thoughts, even just a few motivate me to no end.
> 
> -WhereDragonsSleep


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